Written by the author of "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy", "The Honourable Schoolboy" and "The Little Drummer Girl", this is a terrible story of an English agent. It shows the realities behind the news paragraphs which record the shifts and tensions of the Cold War.
The Department has faded since the war, effectively mothballed, without agents or resources. But now, with intelligence of a possible missile threat, it again has a mission. This is a chance to prove its influence to those at the Circus, like George Smiley, who think the Department's time has passed. The opportunity to reclaim former glory cannot be missed - even though it means putting men's lives at desperate risk on foreign soil. The Looking Glass War is a gripping story of the amorality of espionage - unflinching in its depiction of the men involved, who are as much full of vanity and fear as of selflessness and courage.