- For the article by Neal Stephenson, see Smiley's people (essay).
Smiley's People is a spy novel by John le Carré, published in 1979. Featuring British master-spy George Smiley, it is the third novel of the Karla Trilogy, following Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and The Honourable Schoolboy. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...
John le Carré is the pseudonym of David John Moore Cornwell (born October 19, 1931 in Poole, Dorset, England), an English writer of espionage novels. ...
The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...
The spy fiction genre (sometimes called political thriller) first arose just before the First World War, at about the same time, the first organized intelligence agencies were being formed. ...
A publisher is a person or entity which engages in the act of publishing. ...
Hodder & Stoughton is a British publishing house, now an imprint of Hodder Headline. ...
// Random House is a publishing house based in New York City. ...
Hardcover books A hardcover (or hardback or hardbound) is a book bound with rigid protective covers (typically of cardboard covered with cloth, heavy paper, or sometimes leather). ...
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The Honourable Schoolboy, published in 1977, is the second novel of the Karla Trilogy, written by spy author John Le Carré. Although George Smiley has a major role, the eponymous protagonist is the Honourable Jerry Westerby, Esq. ...
The spy fiction genre (sometimes called political thriller) first arose just before the First World War, at about the same time, the first organized intelligence agencies were being formed. ...
John le Carré is the pseudonym of David John Moore Cornwell (born October 19, 1931 in Poole, Dorset, England), an English writer of espionage novels. ...
Also: 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins. ...
Book cover showing Sir Alec Guiness as George Smiley. ...
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is a spy novel by John le Carré, first published in 1974. ...
The Honourable Schoolboy, published in 1977, is the second novel of the Karla Trilogy, written by spy author John Le Carré. Although George Smiley has a major role, the eponymous protagonist is the Honourable Jerry Westerby, Esq. ...
Plot
George Smiley is called out from retirement, a final time, to investigate the death of an old British agent, a Russian General anonymously living in retirement in London. Smiley learns the General had discovered information that would lead to a final confrontation with George Smiley's nemesis, the Soviet spy-master Karla. This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ...
Maria Andreyevna Ostrakova, a Russian émigrée in Paris, is persuaded by a Soviet agent (whom we later identify as Oleg Kirov né Kursky) that her daughter, left long ago in the Soviet Union, will be permitted to emigrate and join Ostrakova. Too much time passes after completing the formalities, with no sign of the daughter. Ostrakova realises she has been used, and contacts General Vladimir, a former WWII agent for the British. Vladimir arranges some investigation, with help from his friend Otto Leipzig and another friend's son, Villem aka William Craven, and learns that Ostrakova has unwittingly provided a "legend," i.e. a false identity, for Karla's daughter. Vladimir attempts to pass this on to British intelligence, but the Circus (its London headquarters) is skeptical and uncooperative, and Vladimir is assassinated, evidently by a Moscow agent. Cambridge Circus may be a reference to: Cambridge Circus, the junction of Shaftesbury Avenue and Charing Cross Road in London. ...
New Circus head Enderby wants to protect itself from scandal and calls in George Smiley to help clean up. Smiley, unlike anyone currently in authority at the Circus, believes Vladimir possessed valuable intelligence, and takes it upon himself to investigate.
Soviet agents blunder an attempt to kill Ostrakova. She, recognizing that she is in danger, has already sent another letter to Vladimir.
Smiley retrieves a negative hidden by Vladimir just before his death. A photo developed from the negative shows Kirov and Leipzig, nearly naked, entwined with a pair of naked prostitutes. Smiley also intercepts the second letter from Ostrakova to Vladimir. He consults with Connie Sachs and flies to Hamburg, where he hopes to find Leipzig and learn the rest of the story.
In Hamburg, Smiley tracks down Claus Kretzschmar, old friend of Leipzig and owner of the seedy night club (brothel / strip club) where the photograph was taken. Kretzschmar gives him directions to find Leipzig. But the Soviets have found Leipzig first, and tortured and killed him. They had also searched fruitlessly for the torn half of a postcard, which Smiley finds hidden underwater in an old shoe. Smiley's discovery is witnessed by too many people, and his rental car is severely damaged in the process, so Smiley finds himself in a rush to finish his work in Hamburg before the German authorities and Soviet thugs close in on him. He takes the postcard to Kretzschmar, who matches it to the other half and gives Smiley the tape recording of Leipzig and Kirov's night at the night club and the photocopy of Ostrakova's first letter, which Vladimir had sent to Leipzig. Smiley reads the letter and flies to Paris, fearing for Ostrakova's life. For the book or movie Striptease see Striptease (book) and Striptease (movie) A striptease is a performance, usually a dance, in which the performer gradually removes their clothing for the purposes of sexually arousing the audience, usually performed in nightclubs. ...
A brothel, also known as a bordello or whorehouse, is an establishment specifically dedicated to prostitution, providing the prostitutes a place to meet and to have sex with the clients. ...
For the book or movie Striptease see Striptease (book) and Striptease (movie) A striptease is a performance, usually a dance, in which the performer gradually removes their clothing for the purposes of sexually arousing the audience, usually performed in nightclubs. ...
Smiley gets Ostrakova to a safe place, and gets (deniable) approval, and funding, from Enderby to lead an operation to cause Karla to defect. While Smiley does research at the Circus, Toby Esterhase sets up a team in Berne, Switzerland, where Soviet official Grigoriev resides. (Kirov revealed on Leipzig's tape recording that US $10,000 was secretly sent to Grigoriev every month, so Smiley expects Grigoriev to lead him to Karla's "Alexandra".) Grigoriev is subjected to the classic blackmail-and-bribe technique, to extract from him all he knows of the Alexandra arrangement, and to get him to arrange for Smiley to visit Alexandra. Following Smiley's visit to Alexandra, Grigoriev passes on Smiley's letter to Karla. Karla, faced with a choice between defection and destruction, not only his own but very likely his daughter's, chooses defection.
In a final scene reminiscent of the opening scene of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, Karla, posing as a laborer, attempts to defect using a walkbridge at the Berlin Wall; unlike Karl Riemeck in Spy, however, Karla does not panic during the crossing and makes it safely to the Circus's waiting car. Karla is finally defeated, but the similarity of Smiley's methods to the cold and ruthless techniques of Karla himself robs Smiley of any sense of triumph. The Spy Who Came in from the Cold is a 1963 espionage novel by John le Carré, adapted into a 1965 film starring Richard Burton. ...
Characters Maria Andreyevna Ostrakova - a Russian émigrée in Paris, mother of a girl, Alexandra Glikman, whom she left with the girl's father when she escaped from the Soviet Union
Oleg Kirov né Oleg Kursky - an agent for Karla, deputed to find a suitable legend for Karla's daughter
General Vladimir - Estonian, former Soviet general, spied for the British for three years, since defected and later retired
Otto Leipzig - freelance intelligence agent and occasional fraud, who works with Vladimir to take down Kirov and Karla
George Smiley - retired, former Acting Chief of British intelligence Book cover showing Sir Alec Guiness as George Smiley. ...
Peter Guillam- Head of the British Intelligence section in the Paris embassy Peter Guillam is a fictional character in John le Carrés series of espionage novels. ...
Connie Sachs - retired, former head of Moscow sphere of British intelligence (the Circus)
Oliver Lacon - Whitehall's Head Prefect to the intelligence service, aka Cabinet Office factotum Oliver Lacon is a Permanent Secretary at the Cabinet Office in John Le Carres George Smiley novels: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, The Honourable Schoolboy and Smileys People. ...
Whitehall, London, looking south towards the Houses of Parliament. ...
Nigel Mostyn - young intelligence officer who took Vladimir's calls to Circus
Alexandra Borisovna Ostrakova - Maria Andreyevna's daughter; identity assumed by Karla's daughter
Karla - Chief of the Thirteenth Directorate within Soviet Intelligence. The Directorate is also known as the Karla Directorate.
Saul Enderby - Chief of British intelligence
William (Villem) Craven - son of a deceased friend of Vladimir, performs a courier job for Vladimir
Mikhel - Vladimir's friend at the Free Baltic library in Bloomsbury Bloomsbury may refer to: Bloomsbury, London, an area in the centre of the city the Bloomsbury group, an English literary group active around from around 1905 to the start of World War II. the Bloomsbury Gang, a political grouping centred on the local landowner, John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford...
Elvira - Mikhel's wife, probably Vladimir's lover
Toby Esterhase - former Circus man, organizes the trapping of Grigoriev Toby Esterhase is a character in John Le Carres George Smiley novels. ...
Claus Kretzschmar - owner of night club in Hamburg where Kirov is burned For other uses, see Hamburg (disambiguation). ...
Grigoriev - Soviet bureaucrat in Berne who is drawn against his will into, first, Karla's services, then Smiley's For other uses, see Berne (disambiguation). ...
Krassky - Moscow courier who handles correspondence between Grigoriev and Karla
Tatiana - Karla's daughter, usually referred to by her assumed identity, "Alexandra"
Mother Felicity - chief of the facility in Thun where Alexandra/Tatiana is kept Location within Switzerland Thun (French Thoune) is a town in the canton of Bern in Switzerland with about 41,540 inhabitants (2003). ...
Adaptations
 Smiley's People DVD cover Smiley's People was dramatised by John Hopkins as a television mini-series for the BBC in 1982, as a sequel to Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1979), again starring Alec Guinness as George Smiley. Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ...
Image File history File links Metadata No higher resolution available. ...
John Hopkins (sometimes credited as John R. Hopkins; born January 27, 1931 in London, England, UK; died July 23, 1998 in Woodland Hills, California, United States) was a British film and television writer. ...
A miniseries, in a serial storytelling medium, is a production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. ...
For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ...
Year 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar). ...
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is a spy novel by John le Carré, first published in 1974. ...
Sir Alec Guinness CH, CBE (2 April 1914 – 5 August 2000) was an Academy Award and Tony Award-winning English actor. ...
Cast Sir Alec Guinness CH, CBE (2 April 1914 – 5 August 2000) was an Academy Award and Tony Award-winning English actor. ...
Dame Eileen June Atkins, DBE (born June 16, 1934 in London, England) is a British writer and an award-winning film and theatre actress. ...
Michael Byrne (born 7 November 1943) is an English actor noted for his roles on film and television. ...
Bernard Hepton (born October 19, 1925 in Bradford, England) is a British actor. ...
Anthony Bate (born 31 August 1929 in Stourbridge, Worcestershire, England) is an actor. ...
(John) Barry Foster born in Beeston, Nottinghamshire, England on 21 August 1927, died 11 February 2002, of a heart attack while being cared for at the Royal Surrey Hospital in Guildford. ...
Michael Lonsdale (born May 24, 1931 in Paris) is a French actor perhaps best known for his role as Sir Hugo Drax in the 1979 James Bond film, Moonraker. ...
Beryl Reid was the daughter of Scottish parents and grew up in industrial Manchester, England. ...
Bill Paterson is a Scottish actor who has appeared in many films, plays and television series. ...
Siân Phillips, CBE is a Welsh actress who was born Jane Elizabeth Ailwên Phillips in Betws, Carmarthenshire, Wales, on May 14, 1934. ...
Mario Adorf (born September 8, 1930) is a Swiss film actor, best known for his role in the 1978 film, The Tin Drum. ...
This article is about the actor. ...
Jürgens in a scene from Der Kommissar (1973) Curd Jürgens (December 13, 1915 - June 18, 1982) was a German stage and motion-picture actor. ...
Vladek Sheybal (born 12 March 1923 in Zgierz, Poland, died 16 October 1992 in London, England) is an actor. ...
Rosalie Crutchley (January 4, 1920 - July 28, 1997) was a British actress. ...
Maureen Lipman CBE (born Hull, 10 May 1946), is a British film, theatre and television actress, columnist, and comedienne. ...
Dudley Sutton (born April 6, 1933 in Surrey, England) is a British actor. ...
This article is about the English actor Michael Gough. ...
Chief Superintendent (Ch Supt/CSP; colloquially Chief Super) is a senior rank in the Police Forces. ...
Michael as Harry Slater in EastEnders Michael Elphick (born September 19, 1946 in Chichester, West Sussex; died September 7, 2002 in London) was a British actor. ...
Paul Herzberg is a South African actor and playwright. ...
Norma West is a British actress, born 19 November 1943 in Cape Town, South Africa. ...
Ingrid Pitt (born November 21, 1937 in Poland) is an actress best known for her work in horror films of the 1960s and 70s. ...
Lucy Fleming is a British actress, perhaps best known for her role as Jenny Richards in the 1970s BBC drama Survivors. ...
Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman (born February 21, 1946) is an Emmy-, Golden Globe-, BAFTA- and Screen Actors Guild Award-winning English film, television and stage actor. ...
External links For the in-memory database management system, see In-memory database. ...
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