I love spy novels. I got off to a shaky start in the 1960s by reading Matt Helm and James Bond paperbacks. But, eventually, I read “grown up” spy novels by John le Carre (David Cornwell), Frederick Forsyth, Eric Ambler, Martin Cruz Smith, Robert Ludlum, and others. Today my favorites are Mick Heron’s Slow Horses, Mark Greaney’s Gray Man series, and Daniel Silva’s series.

Tradecraft: Writers on John le Carre (2025) takes the reader on a deep dive into the works of John le Carre. Several of le Carre’s spy novels are dissected to reveal plenty of facts of the novel and the author that you didn’t know.

My favorite chapter in Tradecraft is written by David Cornwell’s son, Nicholas Cornwell. Nicholas reveals personal facts about his father, his writing methods, and how working with “John le Carre” made him a better writer.

If you’re a John le Carre fan, Tradecraft is a must-read. If you enjoy spy fiction, you’ll learn a lot about the craft of writing spy novels from this book. GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

FOREWORD Simon Cornwall — vii
PREFACE Le Carré and the Bodleian Richard Ovenden — x
INTRODUCTION Federico Varese — 1

TIMELINE OF DAVID CORNWELL’S LIFE — 26

1. Errol Morris: David Cornwell and the hopeless uncertainties of history — 29
2. Elleke Boehmer & Steven Matthews: John le Carré as world writer — 40
3. Lawrence Osborne: The Honourable Schoolboy: Hong Kong nights and Phnom Penh days — 57
4. Andrea Ruggeri: The world has gone mad: International Relations in the work of John le Carré –72
5. Andrei Soldatov: John le Carré and spying as seen from the KGB — 86
6. Michela Wrong: One week in Bukavu — 103
7. Hossein Amini: Adapting John le Carré: My first screenwriting manual — 122
8. Nicholas Cornwell: Writing with my father: Karla’s Choice by way of Silverview –138

Notes — 152

Further Reading –– 162

Acknowledgements — 164

About the Authors — 166

Picture Credits — 168

Index — 169