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The dissection of these wars is a risky business for novelists as well as for governments. Too far in one direction and a book is something to kill time—for those who like it dead. Too far in the other direction and a novel becomes pretension in a dust jacket. The author of The Honourable Schoolboy manages to skirt both terminals. But even he comes too close for comfort. Can the spy novel continue to grow without losing its value as entertainment? For David Cornwell—John le Carré—George Smiley, it is, in every sense of the word, a vital question for British intelligence.—Stefan Kanfer