British novelist David Cornwell, writing under the pseudonym of John le Carré, is, according to Jason Cowley in New Statesman & Society, the "natural heir of Joseph Conrad and Graham Greene," a writer "whose superb worldliness and commanding interest in the great movements of contemporary history have resulted in a postwar body of work of unrivaled political complexity." Identified most closely with literary thrillers such as The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, as well as the other "Smiley" novels, le Carré has continued to cast a suspicious eye at world events since the end of the Cold War in novels such as The Little Drummer Girl, A Perfect Spy, Russia House, Our Game, The Tailor of Panama, and The Constant Gardener. Along the way he has spun out his twin themes of betrayal and deceit in stories involving political-geographical flash-points...