The definitive, fascinating biography of the undisputed giant of English literature, a man whose own true history has long been hidden behind the fictional world of his books
Adam Sisman is an award-winning writer, author of Boswell's Presumptuous Task, shortlisted for the Whitbread Prize and winner of the US National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography, and biographer of A. J. P. Taylor and Hugh Trevor-Roper. He is an Honorary Fellow of the University of St Andrews and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. He lives in Bristol.
Ultimately it's about love ... this is a very emotional book. John
le Carre had an utterly heartbreaking childhood ... This is the
best biography of 2015 - a rare achievement that invites rereading
-- Edward Wilson * Independent *
Compendious and compelling...Sisman is excellent at the nuts and
bolts of writing and of being published...it must be difficult to
write the life of a man who is still very much with us, and in the
public eye, no matter how much liberty the biographer has been
given to tell the story, warts and all. Sisman - a very fine and
astute biographer - has done an excellent, not to say exemplary,
job under the circumstances ... it is impossible to imagine this
Life being bettered -- William Boyd * New Statesman *
This is the way to do it. Why this admirably balanced, patiently
detailed biography of John le Carre is not on the Samuel Johnson
Prize for Non-Fiction shortlist beats me ... Sisman does full
justice to [the] rawness at the heart of le Carre -- David Sexton *
Evening Standard *
A perfect biography * Robert Harris on An Honourable
Englishman *
A wonderfully absorbing book * Alan Bennett on An Honourable
Englishman *
By miles the best biography I have read this year * Max Hastings on
An Honourable Englishman *
Admirable * Financial Times *
Balanced, focused and compelling * Economist *
The spy novelist's life is explored and explained with immaculate
care and attention to detail * Sunday Times *
This book is testament to Sisman's skill and perseverance ... With
his excellent grasp of the wider history, Sisman is good at
anchoring Cornwell in this shadowy environment, as he guides his
readers through the models for various characters ... Sisman brings
admirable clarity to what could have been a meander in a wilderness
of mirrors -- Andrew Lycett * Spectator *
A perceptive and elegant interpreter of complex lives -- Jonathan
Dimbleby * Radio Times *
Excellent ... Shows how memory, fact and fiction have danced in Le
Carre's life ... [A] masterful biography * Catholic Morning Herald
*
Absorbing new doorstopper * Western Morning News *
Sisman often came to know the reality of what happened in
Cornwell's life better than Cornwell himself did * Newsweek *
Respectful though far from sycophantic - Best Books of 2015 -- Gaby
Wood * Daily Telegraph *
This riveting, thorough biography reveals the real world of
Cornwell to be every bit as fascinating as his much-loved fiction.
The perfect Christmas present for the le Carre fan in your life *
Sunday Times *
Cornwell has admitted that he can no longer separate many of the
facts of his life from his lies and fictions. For Sisman this is
like a red rag to a bull and you can feel the thrill of the chase
throughout his terrific John le Carre * Independent *
However gripping John le Carre's novels ... Hang onto your hats,
because the author's real life story is equally thrilling.
Biographer Adam Sisman peels back layers of le Carre to reveal
David Cornwall ... This is a masterpiece of storytelling and
factual revelations * Compass *
Fascinating * Metro *
John le Carre will not be the final word on this subject but it
could hardly be bettered -- Robert McCrum * Observer *
Sisman pulls it off: this is a well-written and highly readable
book which is neither hagiography nor hatchet job ... Within that
world he [John le Carre] conveys some of the truths of human
nature, endeavour and fallibility. This is a real and rare
achievement and in Adam Sisman he has a biographer worthy of it --
Alan Judd * Times Literary Supplement *
Absorbing ... An insightful and highly readable portrait of a
writer and a man who has often been classified as elusive and
enigmatic as his fictional heroes -- Michiko Kakutani * New York
Times *
Perceptive, entertaining * Guardian, 'Book of the Day' *
Extraordinary, absorbing ... The most enthralling life of a writer
I've read since I found myself riveted by Samuel Johnson's Life of
Milton 40 odd years ago ... [A] magnificent book about an
extraordinary man ... Nothing about him [John le Carre] is more
shrewd and wise and self-revealing than this superb biography he
has elicited from Sisman * Australian *
Excellent * Choice magazine *
A masterpiece * Irish Examiner, 'Books of the Year' *
Meticulous and illuminating ... Thankfully, his biography stops
well short of hagiography * Tablet *
[Sisman's] revealing biography, written in blessedly readable
prose, makes a three-dimensional figure of a subject who can come
across as something of a superman * Daily Telegraph *
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