The Looking-Glass War
John le Carré
 An undefined military intelligence organisation, based in Blackfriars Road, London and referred to throughout the book as "The Department," has been resting on its laurels since its successes running agents against the Nazis during the Second World War. Its tasks are gradually being taken over by the more experienced Circus, led by "Control" and his right hand man George Smiley. The Department expends most of its energies on administrative tasks and on a bureaucratic turf war with the more professional Circus. The Department comes across uncertain and weak evidence that Soviet missiles are being placed at Rostock, near the West German border. The Department's chief, LeClerc, seizes the opportunity to re-live glory days and regain prestige for his organization. He decides to send an agent into enemy territory to discover the truth without involving the Circus, thereby enhancing The Department's status. The Department reactivates one of its World War II agents, a naturalised Pole named Fred Leiser, and sends him into East Germany to investigate the missiles. The inexperienced Department's operation is clumsy, and Leiser makes errors -- including his killing a young East German border guard and making overly-long transmissions. Consequently, the East Germans determine almost immediately that security has been breached, and they set out to find Leiser's location. Smiley informs LeClerc and his colleagues about the debacle. He tactfully convinces LeClerc to abandon the operation, with Leiser still trapped in East Germany. The story comes to its inevitable end when Leiser, not knowing the fate of the operation, and receiving no response to his transmissions, continues with his mission. He follows the "War Rules" and plays out the losing game to the end. Leiser's prolonged and slow transmissions give away his location and he is captured. Leiser's fate is unknown at the conclusion of the story.