Author John le Carré gestorben

Author John le Carré gestorben

John le Carré died at the age of 90. The world of spies in the Cold War was his home; first as an agent, then as an author. In the last years of his life, he appeared as a sharp critic of Brexit.

Le Carré wrote 25 novels and an autobiographical book in his six-decade career as a writer. Around 60 million copies of his books have been sold worldwide. It has shaped the genre of the spy novel in significant ways.

The author, whose real name is David Cornwell, achieved world fame with his third novel “The Spy Who Came from the Cold” in 1963. This book alone has sold about 20 million copies worldwide. It was also made into a movie with Richard Burton in the title role. Other great successes of Le Carré were: “Dame, König, As, Spion” (1974) and “Ein blender Spion” (1986).

Bad spy

Le Carré wrote his bestseller “The Spy Who Came Out of the Cold” while working at the British embassy in Bonn. His diplomatic work was merely a cover for his espionage work for the British secret service MI6, as he admitted only many years later. In “The Spy Who Came Out of the Cold”, Le Carré tells the story of a British double agent who runs a spy ring in the GDR.

Le Carré’s own career as a spy was destroyed in 1964 by real double agent Kim Philby, who had many of his colleagues exposed. Le Carré then had to resign from MI6. However, the wry author later said that he was a bad spy anyway.

Much of Le Carré’s novels deal with the Cold War era. However, after the end of this era, he also dealt with other issues, including arms and drug trafficking. In the 2001 novel “The Eternal Gardener,” which was also filmed, he dealt with the practices of pharmaceutical companies in Africa.

Le Carré was a very political author who also took a position on current affairs. He vehemently opposed Brexit and repeatedly criticized British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

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Overview