This map of London was commissioned by Penguin Books to celebrate the publication of a new spy novel by John le Carré. It depicts scenes and locations mentioned in le Carré's earlier books that feature the character George Smiley as the protagonist, including Smiley's People, The Spy Who Came In From The Coldand Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. The map was featured online (where a full-size copy of the map can be downloaded - link) and made available as a fold-out leaflet from Waterstones bookshops.
A small, sketchy illustration represents each scene and these include fictional places such George Smiley's Chelsea home and the headquarters of the British Intelligence Services, and real places such as Paddington Station and Hampstead Heath. In keeping with the mid-twentieth century Cold War period in which le Carré's books are set, the map was designed to resemble one from the 1960s, using retro shades of orange and blue and Gills Sans lettering inspired by classic Penguin paperback book covers.
A small, sketchy illustration represents each scene and these include fictional places such George Smiley's Chelsea home and the headquarters of the British Intelligence Services, and real places such as Paddington Station and Hampstead Heath. In keeping with the mid-twentieth century Cold War period in which le Carré's books are set, the map was designed to resemble one from the 1960s, using retro shades of orange and blue and Gills Sans lettering inspired by classic Penguin paperback book covers.
Illustrated scenes and locations (clockwise from top left): Hampstead Heath, site of General Vladimir’s murder in Smiley’s People; the Unipress Building in Fleet Street, featured in A Murder of Quality; The Circus, British Intelligence Services HQ located at the north-east corner of Cambridge Circus; Paddington Station where Smiley meets his protégé Ned in The Secret Pilgrim; no.9 Bywater Street in Chelsea, George Smiley's home; and the scene on Battersea Bridge where Smiley grapples with an East German spy at the end of Call for the Dead.
Illustrated scenes and locations (clockwise from top left): Alec Leamas's flat in Bayswater, featured in The Spy Who Came in from the Cold; Islay Hotel in Sussex Gardens, featured in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy; no.14 Disraeli Street in Bloomsbury, the safe house featured in A Legacy of Spies; the British Military Intelligence Agency headquarters in Blackfriars Road, featured in The Looking Glass War; no. 5 Lock Gardens in Camden Town, the mole’s safe house in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy; and the Foreign Office Conference House in Carlton Gardens, featured in The Honourable Schoolboy.
