Collecting John le Carre

Our guest is Steven Ritterman, who joins us from New York. Steven has a collection of more than 300 John le Carré books, including first editions, signed copies, galleys and variants. John le Carré - who died in 2020 - is best known for his spy novels, particularly The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Le Carré wrote from a position of experience, having worked for the British security services in the 1950s and 1960s. Steven describes his quest for the complete le Carré collection, which includes meeting the author at a New York book signing event and comparing notes on le Carré’s debut book with a fellow collector. We discuss the Cold War, mundane spying processes, and the rising prices of rare le Carré books.