Alexander Howard stumbled on spymaster John Le Carré soon after relishing a James Bond film. And he was instantly hooked on George Smiley, Le Carré’s unglamorous bureaucrat-detective – an unlikely hero.
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John le Carré and Ian Fleming, the world’s most famous spy novelists, share experience in UK intelligence and difficult childhoods. But their heroes, George Smiley and James Bond, are very different.
We don’t look to James Bond for accurate depictions of spycraft, but at least some of his adventures are grounded in reality.
The archive of David Cornwell’s work at the Bodleian Library in Oxford also reveals the depth of his collaboration with his wife Jane.
Killing Eve may seem like an ultra-modern take on the spy genre but it is more traditional that it seems.
The former boss of British intelligence has lashed out at spy novelist John le Carré. The novelist is rather pleased.
Far from grasping at Cold War certainties, Le Carré’s Smiley embraces the changing role of the British spy.
Top contributors
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Senior Lecturer, Discipline of English and Writing, University of Sydney
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Senior Lecturer in Intelligence Studies, University of Salford
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Director of the Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford
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Associate Fellow in Film and Television Studies, University of Warwick
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Research Fellow in German and Comparative Literature, University of Cambridge
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Research Fellow, Australian Catholic University
