Reading order · 6 books · 1961 to 2017 · Set in London
George Smiley Books in Order
George Smiley is a small, plump, quiet and brilliant officer of the British Secret Service, known as the Circus. He is the conscience of the service, in a world of betrayal and moral compromise, and his loyal lieutenant Peter Guillam is beside him from the first book to the last.
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Series facts
- Books
- 6
- Published
- 1961 to 2017
- First book
- Call for the Dead
- Latest
- A Legacy of Spies (2017)
- Setting
- Set in London
The reading order
Every George Smiley book in publication order. Choose a title for its cast and summary.
6 books · Set in London
- 1Call for the Dead1961With George SmileyGeorge Smiley interviews a Foreign Office official about an anonymous accusation, and the next day the man is dead.Buy on Amazon
- 2A Murder of Quality1962With George SmileySmiley goes to an English public school where the wife of one of the masters has been murdered.Buy on Amazon
- 3The Spy Who Came in from the Cold1963With Alec LeamasAlec Leamas, a burnt-out British agent in Berlin, agrees to one last operation: to pretend to defect, in order to bring down the head of East German intelligence.Buy on Amazon
- 4The Looking Glass War1965A small, forgotten military intelligence department sends an agent into East Germany to check reports of missiles, with tragic results.Buy on Amazon
- 5The Secret Pilgrim1990With NedNed, now in charge of training new recruits, invites George Smiley to speak to them, and looks back on his own career.Buy on Amazon
- 6A Legacy of Spies2017With Peter GuillamPeter Guillam, long retired in Brittany, is summoned to London to answer for the events of an operation decades before, and the death of Alec Leamas.Buy on Amazon
Do you need to read them in order?
Read in publication order, starting with Call for the Dead. The Spy Who Came in from the Cold is the most famous single book.
Who appears in which book
The series’ main characters, book by book. Lead means the book is told around them; minor covers cameos.
| Book | George Smiley | Peter Guillam | Alec Leamas | Ned | Hans-Dieter Mundt | Liz Gold |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Call for the Dead | LLead | MMajor | MMajor | |||
| 2 A Murder of Quality | LLead | |||||
| 3 The Spy Who Came in from the Cold | MMajor | ·Minor | LLead | MMajor | MMajor | |
| 4 The Looking Glass War | ·Minor | |||||
| 5 The Secret Pilgrim | MMajor | LLead | ||||
| 6 A Legacy of Spies | MMajor | LLead | MMajor | ·Minor |
Characters in the George Smiley books
9 characters from John le Carré’s chart, with the number of George Smiley books each appears in.
| Character | Books | First in this series |
|---|---|---|
| George SmileyIntelligence officer of the Circus | 6 | Call for the Dead 1961 |
| Peter GuillamSmiley’s loyal lieutenant | 3 | Call for the Dead 1961 |
| Alec LeamasCircus field agent | 2 | The Spy Who Came in from the Cold 1963 |
| NedVeteran officer who looks back on his career | 1 | The Secret Pilgrim 1990 |
| Hans-Dieter MundtEast German security officer | 2 | Call for the Dead 1961 |
| Liz GoldYoung Communist librarian who loves Leamas | 2 | The Spy Who Came in from the Cold 1963 |
| Ann SmileySmiley’s unfaithful wife | 1 | Call for the Dead 1961 |
| ControlHead of the Circus | 1 | The Spy Who Came in from the Cold 1963 |
| Toby EsterhaseHungarian-born Circus officer | 1 | A Legacy of Spies 2017 |
Crossovers with John le Carré’s other series
- Karla trilogy: George Smiley also appears in 3 of its books; Peter Guillam also appears in 3 of its books