John le Carre's last Smiley book, A Legacy of Spies, tells the behind the scenes story of Alec Leamas, late of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. This one is 1st person, but done well. The person in this case is Peter Guillam (played excellently by Benedict Cumberbatch in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy). We learn more about his prior work for the Circus, and Smiley makes a few appearances. All in all, a nice addition to the Smiley novels, and a great way to get the reader, whether or not they've already read the others, back to the first novels in the sequence. In fact, the pull is strong for me to reread book #3 in which Alec features prominently. Or at least watch the excellent 1965 film version with the incomparable Oskar Werner and Richard Burton.
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