Call For the Dead. A Murder of Quality (Le Carre Omnibus) LE CARRÉ, John, [pseud. David John Moore CORNWELL] (born 1931) James Bond 007,Literature

[Spy novels] FIRST OMNIBUS EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.288. Publisher's red cloth, gilt titles to spine, in original yellow dust-wrapper priced 18/-. Contents clean, no ink names, page edges toned, jacket is bright with a neat tear at joint (archivally taped to reverse), some minor marks to rear. Very good indeed. The author's first two novels which introduced George Smiley, and were instrumental in developing hardened post-Fleming spy novels. Both are extremely scarce in first edition, making this first collection a desirable book. As a secret service agent, Le Carre moved from MI5 to MI6, and was in Berlin when the wall was erected. His experiences inspired him to write a novel which became 'Call For The Dead'; "When I first began writing, Ian Fleming was riding high and the picture of the spy was that of a character who could have affairs with women, drive a fast car, who used gadgetry and gimmickry to escape." LeCarre's aim was to portray the intelligence world from a new view and he has earned a reputation for gritty, realistic, suspenseful spy novels based on a wide knowledge of international espionage or simply human behaviour. His famous character, George Smiley, is an ageing, diffident, shadow-like member of the British foreign service, and the antithesis of James Bond. See Haining; Crime Fiction. p208.