• Maxwell Knight, John Bingham and John le Carré by award-winning crime writer, Martin Edwards

    Maxwell Knight, John Bingham and John le Carré by award-winning crime writer, Martin Edwards

    Before he earned fame and fortune writing under the name John Le Carre, David Cornwell earned pocket money from part-time artistic work – such as illustrating Maxwell Knight’s Talking Birds. Cornwell, like Knight’s friend and trusted subordinate John Bingham, was then working for the secret services. The three men had something else in common: they…

  • Smiley is back

    Smiley is back

    John Le Carre’s master spy is making what the author says will be his last appearance in a novel in A Legacy of Spies. If you missed James Naughtie’s moving interview with John le Carré on the Today Programme at 07:40 this morning, it’s available here. He referred to his colleagues “Max Knight and John Bingham”.…