Books

First edition, first impression, of the definitive Cold War novel, which secured le Carré's reputation as a master of the spy thriller. It won the Somerset Maugham Award in 1964 and was adapted into a film in 1965, starring Richard Burton and Claire Bloom. Octavo. Original blue boards, spine lettered in gilt. With dust jacket. Spine and contents slightly toned; jacket unclipped, minimal rubbing, spine lightly sunned, else sharp: a very good copy in near-fine jacket. .

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold is a 1963 Cold War spy novel by the British author John le Carré. It depicts Alec Leamas, a British intelligence officer, tasked with one last assignment to prove a Western intelligence asset in East Germany.