The Man Who Was George Smiley : The Life of John Bingham

"The greatest irony is that it was to George Smiley, modelled largely on Bingham, that le Carre owed his success."-- London Review of Books Following the film success of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy John le Carre's hero George Smiley has come to be seen as the perfect spy. Le Carre revealed shortly before the Iraq War that the model for Smiley was the author and MI5 officer John Bingham, 7th Baron Clanmorris. Michael Jago's brilliant account of his life is not just the story of a great intriguer; it is also of a portrait of the emotions behind the darkest human behavior.