約翰·勒卡雷，原名大衛·康威爾，1931年聲譽英國。18歲被英國軍方情報單位招募，擔任對東柏林的間諜工作；退役後在牛津大學攻讀現代語言，之後於伊頓公學教授法文與德文。1959年進入英國外交部，同時開始寫作。1963年以第三本著作《柏林間諜》一舉成名，知名小說傢格林盛贊：“這是我讀過的最好的間諜小說！”從此奠定文壇大師地位。

勒卡雷一生得奬無數，包括1965年美國推理作傢協會的愛倫坡奬，1964年的英國毛姆奬、James Tait Black紀念奬，1988年獲頒英國犯罪推理作傢協會（CWA）終身成就奬，即鑽石匕首奬（另外在1963年與1977年兩次獲頒匕首奬），以及意大利Malaparte Prize等等。2005年，CWA更是將其最高榮譽“金匕首奬中之奬”授予勒卡雷。至今已齣版20部作品，已有11部被改編為電影和電視劇。

勒卡雷以親身經曆，加上獨一無二的寫作天賦，細膩又深刻地描寫神秘而真實的間諜世界，塑造齣一個個有血有肉的人物。兩難的道德處境、曖昧的善惡定義，內容富含這裏，情節引人入勝，讀來欲罷不能，不愧為享譽全球的大師級作傢！

The inspiration for the major motion picture, "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" starring Gary Oldman and Colin Firth The first novel in John le Carr?'s celebrated Karla trilogy, "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" is a heart-stopping tale of international intrigue. The man he knew as "Control" is dead, and the young Turks who forced him out now run the Circus. But George Smiley isn't quite ready for retirement-especially when a pretty, would-be defector surfaces with a shocking accusation: a Soviet mole has penetrated the highest level of British Intelligence. Relying only on his wits and a small, loyal cadre, Smiley recognizes the hand of Karla-his Moscow Centre nemesis-and sets a trap to catch the traitor. The feature film adaptation of "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" is directed by Tomas Alfredson ("Let the Right One In") and features a cast that includes Gary Oldman as Smiley, Academy Award(r) winner Colin Firth ("The King's Speech"), and Tom Hardy ("Inception").