This item the spy who came in from the cold a george smiley novel george smiley novels by john le carre paperback 1289 available to ship in 1 2 days ships from and sold by amazoncom. George smiley was introduced in call for the dead in 1961 he returned in 1962 in a murder of quality his only story set outside the intelligence community then in 1963 comes the masterpiece the spy who came in from the cold which remains the best spy story i have ever read i agree with graham greene. In 1959 before the action of the novel smiley worked on a case involving mundt who was then a spy in england and tried to kill smiley he plays a shadowy role in control s plot to save mundt and it is never made clear whether he really wanted to see mundt killed or saved. The spy who came in from the cold his third book secured him a worldwide reputation praise for what his most satisfying about john le carres first great success first of many as it turned out is how well it holds up on this its 50th anniversary jonathan yardley washington post. A murder of quality followed by the looking glass war the spy who came in from the cold is a 1963 cold war spy novel by the british author john le carre it depicts alec leamas a british agent being sent to east germany as a faux defector to sow disinformation about a powerful east german intelligence officer