The Berlin Wall is toppled, the Iron Curtain swept aside. The Secret Pilgrim is Ned, a decent, loyal soldier of the Cold War, who has been in British Intelligence all his adult life. Now, at the end of his career, he is forced to revisit his secret years.

Ned illuminates the brave past of his hero and mentor George Smiley who, in one unforgettable evening, gives back to him the dangerous edge of memory to frame the questions that have haunted him for thirty years.