A new book describes John le Carré’s philandering

In 2010 Adam Sisman wrote to John le Carré, proposing a biography of the novelist and former spy. Mr Sisman viewed le Carré—whose real name was David Cornwell—as “the definitive writer of the cold-war era”, someone who had captured post-imperial Britain’s disputed place on the global stage in books such as “The Spy Who Came in from the Cold” and “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”. Cornwell agreed to lengthy interviews and encouraged Mr Sisman to write “without restraints”.