The Berlin Wall is toppled, the Iron Curtain swept aside. The secret pilgrim is Ned, a decent, loyal soldier of the Cold War, and he has been in British Intelligence all his adult life. He is now approaching the end of his career, and is forced by the explosions of change to revisit his secret years. He illuminates the past and present of George Smiley, his hero and mentor, who gives back to him the dangerous edge of memory that empowers him to frame the questions that have haunted him - and the world for over thirty years.