The Spy Who Came in from the Cold

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold is a 1963 novel by John le Carré, the pen name of the English author David Cornwell (1931-2020). Le Carré worked for British Intelligence, including a brief period as a secret agent in Germany. He also began writing novels during this time, and chose a pseudonym to preserve his cover. The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, his third novel, achieved widespread popularity, allowing Le Carré to leave British Intelligence just as it was reeling from the revelation that one of its top agents, “Kim” Philby, had been a Soviet double agent. The Spy Who Came in from the Cold thus launched Le Carré’s career as a full-time author with a particular interest in the moral complexities of spycraft and its consequences for both the agents and the nations they purportedly serve. It is widely considered among the best and most influential spy novels ever written. The novel was the first to win both the prestigious Gold Dagger Award from the British Crime Writers’ Association and the Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America. It also won the Dagger of Daggers award in 2005 as the best Golden Dagger winner of the previous half century.