Last week publisher Penguin reissued John Le Carré’s exemplary spy novel Tinker, Tailer, Soldier, Spy. Deemed by some to be the greatest of its genre, the book features George Smiley, a down-trodden middle aged British Intelligence agent who is forced into retirement after his boss runs a disastrous covert op to root out a mole within their agency. Though he is neither a suave or physically agile spy, like those created by Ian Fleming or Robert Ludlum, the political upper echelon calls upon him to accomplish what his superior could not, and find the mole. Originally published in 1974, the reissue has a new introduction, in which Le Carré writes of his difficulty crafting the first draft of the novel. After months of work, he burned the entire first draft outside in his garden out of utter frustration. He then went back to the drawing board and created this bestselling spy thriller. Read more…