Try free for 30 days
-
A Legacy of Spies
- Narrated by: Tom Hollander
- Series: Smiley, Book 9
- Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Action & Adventure
Add to basket failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from Wish List failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Listen with a free trial
Buy Now for $36.45
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Buy it with
-
The Secret Pilgrim
- By: John le Carré
- Narrated by: Michael Jayston
- Length: 13 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Berlin Wall is down, the Cold War is over, but the world's second oldest profession is very much alive. Smiley accepts an invitation to dine with the eager young men and women of the Circus' latest intake; and over coffee and brandy, by flickering firelight, he beguilingly offers them his personal thoughts on espionage past, present, and future. In doing so, he prompts one of his former Circus colleagues into a searching examination of his own eventful secret life.
-
-
Alright, I guess.
- By Shawn Pickard on 04-07-2018
-
Smiley's People
- The Karla Trilogy, Book 3
- By: John le Carré
- Narrated by: Michael Jayston
- Length: 14 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
George Smiley was summoned from his dubious retirement by two seemingly unconnected events - an old woman in Paris is promised the return of a daughter she will never see, and a handover is to take place on a steamer in Hamburg.
-
-
A satisfying conclusion to a great series
- By David Robinson on 15-07-2015
-
The Honourable Schoolboy
- The Karla Trilogy, Book 2
- By: John le Carré
- Narrated by: Michael Jayston
- Length: 20 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
George Smiley has become chief of the battered British Secret Service. The betrayals of a Soviet double agent have riddled the spy network, and Smiley wants revenge. He chooses his weapon: Jerry Westerby, "The Honourable Schoolboy", a passionate lover, and a seasoned, reckless secret agent. Westerby is pointed east, to Hong Kong. So begins the terrifying game.
-
-
So good, Reading them all.
- By Anonymous User on 28-01-2020
-
The Pigeon Tunnel
- Stories from My Life
- By: John le Carré
- Narrated by: John le Carré
- Length: 11 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
'Out of the secret world I once knew, I have tried to make a theatre for the larger worlds we inhabit. First comes the imagining, then the search for reality. Then back to the imagining, and to the desk where I'm sitting now.' The Pigeon Tunnel, John le Carré's memoir and his first work of nonfiction, is a thrilling journey into the worlds of his 'secret sharers' - the men and women who inspired some of his most enthralling novels - and a testament to the author's extraordinary engagement with the last half century.
-
-
A writer, actor,story teller of rare talent & compassion.
- By john m blandford on 31-07-2018
-
The Looking Glass War
- By: John Le Carré
- Narrated by: Michael Jayston
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Once, the distinctions were clear: the Circus handled all things political while the Department dealt with matters military. But over the years the power and influence had passed to the Circus. Now suddenly the department had a job on its hands. Uncertain evidence suggested Soviet missiles being put in place near the German border, while vital film had gone missing and a courier was dead.
-
-
Bleak but compelling, fantastic narration
- By B L Cornwell on 19-06-2020
-
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
- By: John le Carré
- Narrated by: Michael Jayston
- Length: 12 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mr George Smiley is small, podgy, and at best, middle-aged. He is disillusioned, wrestles with idleness, and has been deserted by his beautiful wife. He is also compassionate, ruthless, and a senior British intelligence officer in short-lived retirement from the Circus, the British Secret Service organisation situated in London. But Moscow centre has infiltrated a mole into the Circus, and it's more than likely the perpetrator is Karla, Smiley's old adversary and his opposite number in Moscow.
-
-
Sigint and comint
- By j on 13-01-2021
-
The Secret Pilgrim
- By: John le Carré
- Narrated by: Michael Jayston
- Length: 13 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Berlin Wall is down, the Cold War is over, but the world's second oldest profession is very much alive. Smiley accepts an invitation to dine with the eager young men and women of the Circus' latest intake; and over coffee and brandy, by flickering firelight, he beguilingly offers them his personal thoughts on espionage past, present, and future. In doing so, he prompts one of his former Circus colleagues into a searching examination of his own eventful secret life.
-
-
Alright, I guess.
- By Shawn Pickard on 04-07-2018
-
Smiley's People
- The Karla Trilogy, Book 3
- By: John le Carré
- Narrated by: Michael Jayston
- Length: 14 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
George Smiley was summoned from his dubious retirement by two seemingly unconnected events - an old woman in Paris is promised the return of a daughter she will never see, and a handover is to take place on a steamer in Hamburg.
-
-
A satisfying conclusion to a great series
- By David Robinson on 15-07-2015
-
The Honourable Schoolboy
- The Karla Trilogy, Book 2
- By: John le Carré
- Narrated by: Michael Jayston
- Length: 20 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
George Smiley has become chief of the battered British Secret Service. The betrayals of a Soviet double agent have riddled the spy network, and Smiley wants revenge. He chooses his weapon: Jerry Westerby, "The Honourable Schoolboy", a passionate lover, and a seasoned, reckless secret agent. Westerby is pointed east, to Hong Kong. So begins the terrifying game.
-
-
So good, Reading them all.
- By Anonymous User on 28-01-2020
-
The Pigeon Tunnel
- Stories from My Life
- By: John le Carré
- Narrated by: John le Carré
- Length: 11 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
'Out of the secret world I once knew, I have tried to make a theatre for the larger worlds we inhabit. First comes the imagining, then the search for reality. Then back to the imagining, and to the desk where I'm sitting now.' The Pigeon Tunnel, John le Carré's memoir and his first work of nonfiction, is a thrilling journey into the worlds of his 'secret sharers' - the men and women who inspired some of his most enthralling novels - and a testament to the author's extraordinary engagement with the last half century.
-
-
A writer, actor,story teller of rare talent & compassion.
- By john m blandford on 31-07-2018
-
The Looking Glass War
- By: John Le Carré
- Narrated by: Michael Jayston
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Once, the distinctions were clear: the Circus handled all things political while the Department dealt with matters military. But over the years the power and influence had passed to the Circus. Now suddenly the department had a job on its hands. Uncertain evidence suggested Soviet missiles being put in place near the German border, while vital film had gone missing and a courier was dead.
-
-
Bleak but compelling, fantastic narration
- By B L Cornwell on 19-06-2020
-
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
- By: John le Carré
- Narrated by: Michael Jayston
- Length: 12 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Mr George Smiley is small, podgy, and at best, middle-aged. He is disillusioned, wrestles with idleness, and has been deserted by his beautiful wife. He is also compassionate, ruthless, and a senior British intelligence officer in short-lived retirement from the Circus, the British Secret Service organisation situated in London. But Moscow centre has infiltrated a mole into the Circus, and it's more than likely the perpetrator is Karla, Smiley's old adversary and his opposite number in Moscow.
-
-
Sigint and comint
- By j on 13-01-2021
-
The Russia House
- By: John le Carré
- Narrated by: Michael Jayston
- Length: 13 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is the third summer of perestroika. Niki Landau, philanderer and travelling rep, attends the first Moscow audio fair and is asked by beautiful young Katya to take a parcel back to England. It’s addressed to Barley Blair, jazz-player and drinker, and contains information vital to the defence of the West. But times and heroes are changing. And Barley Blair is a man who makes his own rules of engagement.
-
-
Enjoyable listening
- By Anonymous User on 02-02-2018
-
Agent Running in the Field
- By: John le Carré
- Narrated by: John le Carré
- Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nat, a 47-year-old veteran of Britain's Secret Intelligence Service, believes his years as an agent runner are over. He is back in London with his wife, the long-suffering Prue. But with the growing threat from Moscow Centre, the office has one more job for him. Nat is to take over The Haven, a defunct substation of London General with a rag-tag band of spies. The only bright light on the team is young Florence, who has her eye on Russia Department and a Ukrainian oligarch with a finger in the Russia pie.
-
-
It's a Cracking Yarn
- By Kirsty on 22-10-2019
-
The Little Drummer Girl
- By: John le Carré
- Narrated by: Michael Jayston
- Length: 20 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lured by Israeli intelligence into the world of espionage, Charlie, a young actress, is plunged into a deceptive and delicate trap to ensnare an elusive Palestinian terrorist.
-
-
Terrific
- By Amazon Customer on 15-11-2020
-
Call for the Dead
- By: John le Carré
- Narrated by: Michael Jayston
- Length: 4 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This novel, set in London in the late 1950s, finds George Smiley engaged in the humdrum job of security vetting. But when a Foreign Office civil servant commits suicide after an apparently unproblematic interview, Smiley is baffled. Refusing to believe that Fennan shot himself soon after making a cup of cocoa and asking the exchange to telephone him in the morning, Smiley decides to investigate – only to uncover a murderous conspiracy.
-
-
Enjoyable first book in the series
- By Bevan Lewis on 22-10-2015
-
Silverview
- By: John le Carré
- Narrated by: Toby Jones
- Length: 6 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Julian Lawndsley has renounced his high-flying job in the City for a simpler life running a bookshop in a small English seaside town. But only a couple of months into his new career, Julian's evening is disrupted by a visitor. Edward, a Polish émigré living in Silverview, the big house on the edge of town, seems to know a lot about Julian's family and is rather too interested in the inner workings of his modest new enterprise. When a letter turns up at the door of a spy chief in London warning him of a dangerous leak, the investigations lead him to this quiet town by the sea.
-
-
One of the best
- By Linda on 09-11-2021
-
A Perfect Spy
- By: John le Carré
- Narrated by: Michael Jayston
- Length: 20 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Magnus Pym, counsellor at the British Embassy in Vienna, has suddenly vanished, believed defected. The chase is on for a missing husband, a devoted father, and a life-time secret agent. Pym's life, it is revealed, is entirely made up of secrets. The race is on to find the perfect spy.
-
-
Dreary
- By KillerRooster on 01-07-2022
-
A Murder of Quality
- By: John le Carré
- Narrated by: Michael Jayston
- Length: 4 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
George Smiley is one of the most brilliantly realised characters in British fiction. Bespectacled, tubby, eternally middle-aged, and deceptively ordinary, he has a mind like a steel trap and is said to possess 'the cunning of Satan and the conscience of a virgin'. Miss Ailsa Brimley is in a quandary. She's received a peculiar letter from Mrs Stella Rode, saying that she fears her husband – an assistant master at Carne School - is trying to kill her. Reluctant to go to the police, Miss Brimley calls upon her old wartime colleague, George Smiley.
-
-
A Murder of Quality
- By jenny on 29-03-2022
-
The Tailor of Panama
- By: John le Carré
- Narrated by: Michael Jayston
- Length: 13 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Harry Pendel is the charismatic proprietor of Pendel and Braithwaite Limitada of Panama, through whose doors everyone who is anyone in Central America passes. Andrew Osnard, mysterious and fleshy, is a spy. His secret mission is two-pronged: to keep a watchful eye on the political manoeuvrings leading up to the American handover of the Panama Canal on 31st December 1999; and to secure for himself the immense private fortune that has until now churlishly eluded him.
-
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
- By: John le Carré
- Narrated by: Michael Jayston
- Length: 7 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Alec Leamas has ended his time in Berlin. Or his time has ended him. The last of his Eastern agents has been killed, like the others, by the Abteilung. Back at the Circus, Leamas is put on the shelf. He turns to drunkenness and dishonesty and finally disappears from view, a seemingly broken man. But unknown to anyone except George Smiley and his master, Control, Leamas has been given his toughest mission ever. He will have to be himself but more so.
-
-
Third reading and listening ....still most brilliant.
- By david x kelly on 09-03-2016
-
A Delicate Truth
- By: John le Carré
- Narrated by: John le Carré
- Length: 10 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A counter-terror operation, codenamed Wildlife, is being mounted in Britain's most precious colony, Gibraltar. Its purpose: to capture and abduct a high-value jihadist arms-buyer. Its authors: an ambitious Foreign Office Minister, and a private defence contractor who is also his close friend. So delicate is the operation that even the Minister's Private Secretary, Toby Bell, is not cleared for it.
-
-
So good but...
- By Sarah on 26-07-2016
-
A Small Town in Germany
- By: John le Carré
- Narrated by: Michael Jayston
- Length: 13 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The British Embassy in Bonn is up in arms. Her Majesty's financially troubled government is seeking admission to Europe's Common Market just as anti-British factions are rising to power in Germany. Rioters are demanding reunification, and the last thing the Crown can afford is a scandal. Then Leo Harting - an embassy nobody - goes missing with a case full of confidential files. London sends Alan Turner to control the damage, but he soon realises that neither side really wants Leo found - alive.
-
-
Poor Le Carré, great Jayston.
- By Anonymous User on 18-03-2020
-
The Complete George Smiley Radio Dramas
- BBC Radio 4 Full-Cast Dramatisation
- By: John le Carré
- Narrated by: full cast, Simon Russell Beale
- Length: 18 hrs and 59 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The complete collection of acclaimed BBC Radio dramas based on John le Carré's best-selling novels, starring Simon Russell Beale as George Smiley. With a star cast including Kenneth Cranham, Eleanor Bron, Brian Cox, Ian MacDiarmid, Anna Chancellor, Hugh Bonneville and Lindsay Duncan, these enthralling dramatisations perfectly capture the atmosphere of le Carré's taut, thrilling spy novels.
-
-
A product Of it's time
- By Jeremy on 28-10-2017
Publisher's Summary
Penguin presents the unabridged downloadable audiobook edition of A Legacy of Spies by John le Carré, read by Tom Hollander. This is the first novel in over 25 years to feature George Smiley, le Carré's most beloved character.
Peter Guillam, staunch colleague and disciple of George Smiley of the British Secret Service, otherwise known as the Circus, is living out his old age on the family farmstead on the south coast of Brittany when a letter from his old Service summons him to London. The reason? His Cold War past has come back to claim him. Intelligence operations that were once the toast of secret London and involved such characters as Alec Leamas, Jim Prideaux, George Smiley and Peter Guillam himself are to be scrutinised under disturbing criteria by a generation with no memory of the Cold War and no patience with its justifications.
Interweaving past with present so that each may tell its own intense story, John le Carré has spun a single plot as ingenious and thrilling as the two predecessors on which it looks back: The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
More from the same
What listeners say about A Legacy of Spies
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Hugo
- 08-01-2019
outstanding
Le Carre still at his best. A beautiful... swan song... to Smiley and Guillam(?) and a Secret Service as it used to be. Tom Hollander is pitch perfect throughout.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 28-10-2018
Brilliant narration.
Tom Hollander is just perfect as the narrator. He brings the book to life. A joy to listen to.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- jenny
- 18-05-2022
Another masterpiece from John le Carre
When I choose a book on Audible my eye is always drawn to le Carre. There is a certainty that I’ll be in the hands of a great story teller. Yet again this was true. We weave around the decades and meet familiar people always wondering where we’ll finish. This time Tom Hollander’s narration added even more to the quality of the book he read. Enjoy it!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 02-11-2021
Tim Hollander - Brilliant reader
I like John Le Carre books but Tom Hollander’s reading truly brings them to life .
Perfect !
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 19-09-2021
Shorter than I wanted but still good and well read
Too short. I felt it edited too much. Slow going in some parts. I will probably listen to it again as I kept nodding off during this one
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- barry
- 01-06-2020
Another le Carre masterpiece
A cutting , sad but inciteful insight into the murky world of the smiley era ,and of its many victims but also of the shining light eminating from those who refused to be totally drawn into the quagmire .
I had really never given much serious thought from my totally isolated antipodean viewpoint to anyone actively being a post WW2 Europeanist . This to me was perhaps finally the lost part of the jigsaw for understanding the justification and motivation behind the whole thing .
We maybe had a window of chance with Russia post glasnost Gorby but methinks that bird has well and truly flown now plus Brexit and so we wait for perhaps another George to try to fit the pieces together once more .
I wish there could be more books like it
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Roderic
- 15-01-2018
Excellent Reprise of Cold War Characters
Very well written, as one expects from Le Carre, and a welcome return of some well known characters. The book gives interesting depth to the character of Peter Guillam. However, the modern day spies are drawn fairly harshly and are a bit caricatured.
The narration is excellent.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Ben K Lodhia
- 10-01-2018
Up to standard
Always a masterful story with Le Carre. You are there with him on every page.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Alfergus
- 27-11-2017
Total mastery
Goes beyond tying up the loose threads of Smiley’s life to tussle with an examination of personal and collective responsibility in the murky worlds of politics and intelligence gathering. Add in a fascinating and spell binding structure and then top it off with compelling narration - total mastery!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Judith Cresswell
- 01-10-2017
Captivating in every sense. Le Carre at his best.
Loved it. Tied up loose ends . Took me back to those Cold War days , now gone and confirmed Smiley as a European. Masterful conclusion.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Anonymous User
- 10-10-2018
A great revisit of a smiley classic
with out giving any spoilers, you are far better off if at some time in your dark past, you have read "The spy who came in from the cold".
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Ajay
- 01-10-2017
A foot note to a legacy
The entire novel reads like a wrapping up of a legacy, whether it's John lecarre's or George smiley's is not a mutually exclusive question. A legacy of spies is at stake and Tom Hollander performs rather than just narrate this book as the fans can reminiscence all that has went before.
I would recommend reading 'The spy who came in from the cold' and 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy' before reading this book. It's not a necessity but you will be missing the gravity and depth of the story.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- David W
- 11-09-2017
Circus Aficionados Will Love It
Spans the whole life of the Circus, from wartime SOE to the present day. At his literary best, Le Carre recalls his cast of characters, telling new stories and filling in the gaps between the familiar tales. Thrilled me, but only leaves me yearning for more.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Earnest
- 11-09-2017
An exotically re-embroidered tapestry of memory and moment.
How genius-like to pick up a majestic piece of one's work and then work back into it with such finesse and skill so that the newly worked area appears not only seamless but adds to the brilliance.
Wow.
All the old magic is there beautifully developed into a modern tale where elements such as " what is any of it for?" and " what can an older person make of a committed life"-all elements blended together so movingly.
How powerful the reality is that any series of events in any life, let alone a spy's life, is manipulated by and affected by the jealousy, ambition and thwarted love of others.
Tom Holland settled in and by the end, the brilliant actor that he is, helped to make this an an exemplar for all literary audiobooks.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Kindle Customer
- 10-09-2017
New life into a favourite series
There's a reason you won't find many spy thrillers in my reading list and it's this simple, I started reading John le Carré in my teens and where as in other genres or cross genres, I could usually at least give you a top ten, in plain unadulterated spy thrillers, no one else has ever measured up. This is up there with this author's best. Not only a new tale but one that weaves around so much of what has been left out of the earlier Smiley adventures. Despite being completely gripped by the story, I wanted to cheer when I heard more information on this character or that characters adventures and perspective. This book breaths new life into one of my favourite series.
There's an amazing performance by the narrator too and with all the different accents and locations that's no small feet.
I do recommend listening to this series in order but you have a choice here between the brilliantly narrated separate books or the alternative of purchasing the collection of really great radio adaptations by the BBC. (The Complete George Smiley Radio Dramas: BBC Radio 4 Full-Cast Dramatization which, at the time of writing this review, is also available to purchase on Audible UK.) I honestly don't think there's a wrong answer here, with the exception of a Murder Of Quality, which I stuck to the radio play for,as it's not the strongest of the series, I went for both.
33 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- JOHN
- 10-09-2017
Brilliant
Fans of Le Carré will love this. The story is gripping and the narration by Tom Hollander is perfect. It is hard to believe that Le Carré is 85.
14 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Lord Emsworth
- 14-09-2017
An immensely satisfying conclusion
An immensely satisfying conclusion to the George Smiley series that is very well narrated by Tom Hollander.
The clever plot manages to reference many of the classic Smiley books and plotlines, and also to drag them into the 21st century. This means we learn more about earlier stories and also what happened to some of the characters, not least Karla (in passing).
Although Smiley himself is not physically present for the majority of 'A Legacy of Spies' his shadow touches every page.
Timing-wise this new George Smiley book by John le Carré could not have come at a more opportune time. Between February 2017 and May 2017 I read the entire Smiley series...
'Call for the Dead' (1961)
'A Murder of Quality' (1962)
'The Spy Who Came In from the Cold' (1963)
'The Looking Glass War' (1965)
'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy' (1974)
'The Honourable Schoolboy' (1977)
'Smiley's People' (1980)
'The Secret Pilgrim' (1991)
...and, to varying degrees, each is wonderful. Predictably, having reached the end of the series, I was left with a sense of loss. And then, to my delight and amazement, a new George Smiley book, 'A Legacy of Spies' arrived on 7 September 2017.
I can categorically reassure anyone who loves the character and the series that this maintains the quality and the plotting that readers have come to expect. I savoured every page.
Peter Guillam, Smiley's former right-hand man, and long retired, is centre stage in this novel. As the novel opens Guillam is enjoying life at his family home in Brittany. One day his peaceful life is disturbed by the arrival of an official letter from the Service summoning him back to England in connection with "a matter in which you appear to have played a significant role some years back".
Guillam is apprehensive. He returns to a very 21st century new headquarters by the Thames where a pair of lawyers, the memorably faux-friendly Bunny, and businesslike Laura, during which the veteran Guillam uses all his knowledge to try to outfox this pair of interrogators. They want to know all about Operation Windfall (detailed in 'The Spy Who Came In from the Cold'). This protracted opening scene is John le Carré at his very best and brings Guillam slap bang into the modern world. From then on Guillam is forced to revisit his former life and consider the consequences of what happened.
If, like me, you have enjoyed le Carré’s Smiley books, then this is everything you will have hoped for and wanted. Bravo John le Carré.
10 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Trevor
- 02-10-2017
Would still have preferred Michael Jayston
And so we say goodbye to George Smiley, the greatest of fictional spymasters. His final bow, like his whole personality, is undramatic: in the end, like all good soldiers, he simply fades away.
A Legacy of Spies is clearly intended to round off neatly the whole Smiley canon. The plot is less labyrinthine than in many of le Carré’s novels but the author takes the opportunity to contrast the dusty anonymity of the antiquated old Cambridge Circus premises with the brash ‘in your face’ brutality of ‘Spyland beside the Thames’ as metaphors for the old world of George Smiley with its arcane jargon and the new, shiny, digital spy world of ‘Bunny’ and the appalling Laura. He also takes the opportunity, through Smiley, to question whether so much that was done in the secret world during the cold war actually achieved anything at all. There is, of course, no mention of Brexit but Smiley also states that everything he did was not exclusively for England but in the hope of “leading Europe out of her darkness and into a new age of reason.”
Le Carré’s ear is as accurate as ever but much of the narrative is in the form of reports and memos (which Guillam is obliged by his interrogators to re-read) which, for me, did not quite work – at least in audiobook format. Brilliant though Tom Hollander’s narration is I would still have preferred Michael Jayston, who has read so many le Carré titles, if only for continuity. I know that Jayston is now in his eighties but this would have been entirely appropriate as in A Legacy of Spies Peter Guillam - whom Jayston played in the iconic BBC production of Tinker, Tailor - is now elderly and long-retired.
8 people found this helpful
-
Overall

- RDT
- 10-09-2017
Gripping
A thought provoking somewhat melancholic quest for understanding. Gripping in the intensity of lies and truths. Tom Hollander's narration is magnificent.
7 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Ishmael
- 11-09-2017
Very Clever very LeCarre
Would you listen to A Legacy of Spies again? Why?
Yes I would listen again, the clever way it answers questions you never thought to ask. Setting earlier stories in a wider context.
What was one of the most memorable moments of A Legacy of Spies?
The realisation that we had only reading a very small contained parts of Smiley's war.
What about Tom Hollander’s performance did you like?
Great pace. Really took you back to a time when we all did not have access to immediate information from the internet or mobile devices and relied on what you could see and feel.
Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
Just made me reflect how little things have changed, and the debt we owe to those who came before us whether we agree with them or not.
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Ms
- 08-09-2017
Welcome return
Brilliant tense and engaging revisit of old loved characters from the Smiley series. More importantly a chance to review the actions, values and motives of the past. Wonderfully written, as always, and tTom Hollander is outstanding narrator. Spent all day listening and will do so again soon.
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Mrs
- 12-11-2019
A Legacy - for us to learn from
This book strikes home for me a good deal as a huge fan of John le Carré’s work. His Cold War novels have always had a very strong impression on me, especially as to their morality. Always about the grey area of spying. This novel, which the lawyer’s very black and white sense of right and wrong, have got it entirely wrong too.
And it shows. Though the aren’t cardboard villains. You never get a cardboard villain in le Carré. They just don’t know. They’ve probably never stepped out of their cosy worlds, and are commenting on deeds done in a time the world barely remembers. They look at the scars it has given and they wonder how they got there in the first place.
And trussing up the past to pin the blame on someone, is more relevant than it has ever been. We are living in a more conscious, scrutinised age. And bringing back old friends like Jim Prideaux, and mentioning names like Percy Allileine, Bill Haydon, Toby Esterhase, it’s like walking back into the halls of the Circus. And Alec Leamas, the hero of “The Spy Who Came in from the Cold”, having him back was just altering.
Le Carré has done a bang-up job with this novel. It’s probably one of his best works. And a lovely way to tie off the Smiley saga. And seeing him for a change not as the gilded master of spies we know and love, but as a flawed human being too. Very much the man at the end of “Smiley’s People” and the words near the end of the book: “Is that all the information you require?” “No.” “I envy you.” That is so powerful. Rarely do thrillers delve that deep.
I recommend anyone to read or listen to this book, along with the rest of the George Smiley books.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- JEREMY
- 11-09-2017
Absolutely wonderful
Perhaps it's because I too am old like Peter Guillam? This book draws all of Smileys world together. The prose is exquisite and Tom Hollander is a triumph.
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- Eugene Oconnell
- 25-05-2018
Just dull
Monotonous reading. Try a few different voices
Story just plain boring. Leave Circus alone John
1 person found this helpful
20 Best Fantasy Audiobooks
This genre is so full of talent, it can be difficult to know what to listen to next — so look no further than this list to get you started.



20 Best Nonfiction Audiobooks
From the entire history of humanity to astrophysics, to our gut and mental health, dig into this list and learn something new.



Best Australian Podcasts on Audible
Audible Original Podcasts are free for Audible members. Check out this list of home-grown content, from binge-worthy true crime to self-help.


