Shout out for the most sophisticated and skilled author I read.

John Le Carré is “one of the finest writers of espionage fiction in 20th century literature”.

The former MI5 & MI6 operative published his first novel in 1961. He’s still going strong.

A pseudonym was required, way back when, because Foreign Office officers were forbidden to publish in their own names.

In 2008 he named his best books:

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
The Tailor of Panama
The Constant Gardener

For some reason The Little Drummer Girl is his novel I best remember. Perhaps because I liked the movie with Diane Keaton, too.

I recently listened to Absolute Friends (2003). Every 2-3yrs I feel obliged to read one of his books, to up the intelligence quotient of my average. (The Dune Franchise books are like kindergarten readers, by comparison.)

Next for me is The Mission Song (2006) as I want to learn more about the Second Congo War. (25 armed groups, 5.4 million dead).

I hear the narration of that book by David Oyelowo is superb.

In real life Cornwell’s a harsh critic of the Iraq War.