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John Le Carre’s A Small Town in Germany presents a realistic, explosive, fast-paced spy story through realism, point of view, and tone.

Le Carre’s own life experiences working in the Bonn British Embassy are familiarized in context with the story. “This might possibly give us that idea that this is how Le Carre manages to give us an outstanding vision of how life was really like as a diplomat, or staff member, or citizen of Bonn, and how the political life, and society was not at its best potential” (LeCarre 13). As a classic Cold War spy novel, A Small Town in Germany greatly illustrates skill in connecting personal lives with political aspects of life, and when the two collide it creates a great mess until the very end of the story. “In Bonn, even the flies are official" (Le Carre 238). This means that Bonn is a center of political corruptness, and has power that can be placed in anyone’s hands. . By its title, and embassy is a small part of a country on another country’s own soil. The tiny group of diplomats and staff that occupy the outpost are well prepared to engage in protection from, outside threats or issues, especially at an embassy in a country where an economies political situation is uneasy. In this case, it is Europe’s Cold War and a Germany that is divided into two. A small German town, Bonn, was named the official German capital while the city have berlin had been barricaded by the Iron curtain. Bonn was also known as the Bundesorf which means a “Federal Village” (Le Carre, 68), because of its slow paced social environment, and economy, Bonn had become home to several western German allies and friends. Bonn now held home to many diplomats, where they could produce important business, while being able to focus...

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...: ‘Here,’ he’d say. ‘See that? We disbanded that firm in nineteen forty-seven. Look at it now!’ Other times, he’d go right off into a dream, and then you’d lost him altogether; he was on his own. I think it bothered him to ‘know’ so much. It was queer. I think he almost felt guilty sometimes. He went on quite a lot about his memory. “You’re making me destroy my childhood,’ he says one time – we were breaking up some files for the machine – ‘you’re making an old man of me.’ I said, ‘If that’s what I’m doing you’re the luckiest man alive.’ We had a good laugh about that" (LeCarre 162)

“Let me assure you that the issues and themes of this novel are extremely relevant now as Germany realigns from post-Occupation Bonn to post-Wall Berlin. Germany is rising again, and it will never be the same. Memory does coincide with history -- past, present and future.” (Weiss, 2)