A Small Town In Germany

By: John le Carré

Narrated by: Bernard Hepton, Full Cast, Kenneth Haigh

‘You’re not to disturb, annoy or offend. They’re walking on a knife edge out there, anything could tilt the balance.’ Missing: one junior diplomat and 43 of the British Embassy’s most confidential files. The timing is alarmingly significant: with neo-Nazi riots and radical student demonstrations, the threat to Germany’s security is all too apparent. Britain’s own Alan Turner is sent in, with instructions to tread carefully at all costs. But will he find the missing man and the files before the political situation erupts? Kenneth Haigh stars as Alan Turner with Bernard Hepton as Rawley Bradfield in a fast-paced, explosive dramatisation of John le Carré’s acclaimed spy story, dramatised by René Basilico.

Loved it!

Marvelous voices. Superior Foley work! Engaging story. Typical of UK radio. Top notch work all around.

ecvellent <br />, <br />with economical prose with good pace

Very enjoyable, well written intelligently fone. goof flow. .nicely complicated but accessible. good pace I interesting subject and charatctets

Well done.

I have read this book several times, yet this audio version puts the emotional touches in just the right tone to allow us to have a better feel for the implications of possible outcomes. An American like myself might not know or care what goes on in Europe most of the time, and this version helps get past that. It is fiction, but it does touch on history, one best not forgotten.

Period piece

Turn back the clock to 1968. Alan Turner of the British foreign office has been sent to Bonn, city of fog and Beethoven, to investigate what has become of Leo Harting, a minor official. It appears he has disappeared along with some sensitive files. There are grave suspicions that Harting may be linked to neo-fascist agitator, Klaus Karfeld.

With his brusque manner and all-to-direct questions, it doesn't take long for Turner to get right up the noses of those involved, especially the head of embassy security, Rawley Bradfield. He also attracts unwanted attention from Ludwig Siebkron, head of the German Interior Ministry.

Was Harting a hard-working office drone? A bit of a lad who liked the occasional foray into Cologne's night life? A manipulative master of misdirection? A true believer working against American and British interests? As Turner discovers the truth is, as ever, more complicated that anyone suspects.

I listened to this for a diversion during a long commute. It's a time capsule, with the style and attitudes pretty much what one would expect of that era. Hepton and Haigh were good in their roles. The setting may be of added interest if one is familiar with Bonn and Bad Godesberg.