John le Carr? is one of the most significant political novelists in the English language. His early career in the secret service took him to West Germany at the height of the Cold War and subsequent novels prompted field trips all over the world, from Hong Kong to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He conducted hundreds of interviews with privileged observers, from freedom fighters to spies, bankers and gangsters. In this book, collaborators and friends take us behind the scenes to give original insights into le Carr?’s extraordinary observational writing techniques, revealing his unique ‘tradecraft’ as a writer.