A prolific author with millions of fans, and novels that routinely climb the bestseller charts, John le Carre is more than simply a genre writer. Myron J. Aronoff contends that le Carre's spy novels grapple with one of the most pressing political issues facing the world community today: what extreme - and often undemocratic - means are justifiable to protect democracy in this post-Cold War era?

As such, Aronoff demonstrates that le Carre's novels use espionage as a metaphor for politics, and his unforgettable characters dramatize the classic conflict between individual sovereignty and governmental loyalty and power.