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{{Short description|Fictional character in John Le Carré's novels}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
 
'''Toby Esterhase''' is a fictional character who appears in several of [[John le Carré]]'s spy novels that feature [[George Smiley]], including ''[[Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy]]'', ''[[The Honourable Schoolboy]],'' ''[[Smiley's People]]'', and ''[[The Secret Pilgrim]]''. Esterhase also makes a cameo appearance in Le Carré's ''[[A Legacy of Spies]]''.
 
Esterhase is an [[intelligence agentofficer]] in ''The Circus,'' le Carre's fictionalized version of [[MI6]]. He is the head of the Lamplighters, the section of The Circus responsible for surveillance and wiretapping. Hungarian by birth, Esterhase is an [[anglophileAnglophile]] with pretensions of being a British gentleman. He is the Circus' resident [[ne'er-do-well]], often involvinginvolves himself in either morally questionable or outright criminal plots, although his superiors look the other way due to his high level of competence and loyalty to the service. Initially something of an antagonist to Smiley, due to his loyalty to Smiley's bureaucratic nemesis Percy Alleline, Esterhase ultimately switches allegiances and becomes one of Smiley's top lieutenants, aiding him in a number of high-profile intelligence missions.
 
==Character==
 
Esterhase is exceptionally short; he's called "Tiny Tobe" by colleague [[Connie Sachs]]<ref>''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'', 91-92.</ref> and known around theThe Circus as "Snow White" for his meticulously maintained white hair,<ref>''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'', 178.</ref> which he covers with a net when he sleeps.<ref>''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'', 179.</ref> He further gained the nickname "Our shadow foreign secretary" from [[Bill Haydon]], probably on account of his foreign birth and linguistic ability.<ref>''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'', 178.</ref> Esterhase is known for multiple eccentricities, including "dressing like a male model," washing his own clothes rather than having them laundered,<ref>''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'', 179.</ref> never smiling,<ref>''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'', 91-92.</ref> and sending all of his coworkerscolleagues bottles of alcohol for [[Christmas]]. He has a unique manner of speech which vacillates between ultra-correct English and unusual syntax. Esterhase's former espionage partner, [[Peter Guillam]], indicates that he's something of an imperfecta [[polyglot]], musing "Toby spoke no known language perfectly, but he spoke them all." GuillamIn further''The recountsSecret thatPilgrim,'' Esterhase rarely smiles and appears impervious to fearthough, recallinghe anis incident in which he stoppedseen to tipspeak hotelfluent employees while fleeing would-be captors. Despite his odd behavior, Esterhase proves himselfHungarian to be a valuablepair spyof andfellow extremelyexpatriates, competentduring aswhich the headnarrator ofNed Lamplighters,notes thethat divisionhe ofbecomes themore Circus responsible for surveillance, wiretapping,animate and maintainingexpressive [[safethan house]]s.when Esterhasespeaking personally assembled the Lamplighters by recruiting housewives, vagabonds, andany other individualslanguage.<ref>''The whomSecret no one would suspect of espionage workPilgrim'', and144-145.</ref> honingGuillam themfurther into an efficient, tightly-knit unitrecounts that becomesEsterhase somethingappears ofimpervious ato surrogatefear, family for them. He runs the Lamplighters fromrecalling an officeincident in thewhich backhe ofstopped ato [[laundromat]],tip whichseveral functionsSwiss ashotel aemployees coverwhile forfleeing theirwould-be base of operationscaptors.
 
HeDuring eventuallythe rose to be headevents of the Lamplighter division sometime before 1973.<ref>''Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy'', 136, 150-151.</ref> At the time of ''Tinker, Tailor'', Esterhase has a son at [[Westminster School|Westminster]] and a daughter at medical school.<ref>''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'', 150.</ref> He is married, but has a reputation as a womaniserwomanizer.<ref>''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'', 323. Also see an example of Esterhase flirting in ''Smiley's People'', (London: Coronet/Hodder & Stoughton, 1992), 314. {{ISBN|0 340 55917 9}}.</ref> No information is ever given about his wife or the circumstances of his marriage except her given name Mara.▼
Easterhase is motivated by a desire to be accepted by his peers as a true English gentleman, a weakness exploited by Percy Alleline to coax Toby into supporting him in a coup against Control, the head of the Circus. Smiley later uses the same desire for acceptance to convince Esterhase to switch alliances and support him in exposing Alleline as a fraud whose arrogance has blinded him to the presence of a mole in his inner circle. Esterhase also has a penchant for making extra money on the side through small-time criminal enterprises, nominally selling [[forgery|forged]] art. Those around him look the other way do to his competence and value as a spy.▼
 
Despite his odd behaviour, Esterhase proves himself to be a valuable spy and extremely competent at his job; characters often find themselves conflicted between being put off by his eccentricity and being glad to have him on their side.<ref>See Guillam's view in ''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'', 178-179, and Ned's mixed feelings in ''The Secret Pilgrim'', 123, 130, 152-153.</ref> He has also endeared himself to those around him due to his genuine affection for Smiley, even though they sometimes clash professionally, and his unwavering loyalty to England in general and the Circus in particular.<ref>See ''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'', 322; ''Smiley's People'', 168; ''The Secret Pilgrim'', 5-6.</ref> Esterhase is particularly adept as the head of Lamplighters, the division of the Circus responsible for surveillance, wiretapping, and maintaining [[safe house]]s. Esterhase personally assembled the Lamplighters by recruiting housewives, vagabonds, and other individuals whom no one would suspect of espionage work, and honing them into an efficient, tightly-knit unit that becomes something of a surrogate family for them. He runs the Lamplighters from an office in the back of a [[launderette]], which functions as a cover for their base of operations.
==History==▼
[[George Smiley]] recruited Esterhase (Eszterházy or Esterházy), a Hungarian, in [[Vienna]] sometime around [[World War II]], when he was a starving student living in the ruins of a museum of which his late uncle had been curator.<ref>John Le Carre, ''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'' (London: Coronet Books/Hodder & Stoughton, 1989), 150. {{ISBN|0 340 51308 X}}.</ref>
 
▲EasterhaseEsterhase is motivated by a desire to be accepted by his peers as a true English gentleman, a weakness exploited by Percy Alleline to coax Toby into supporting him in a coup against Control, the head of the Circus. Smiley later uses the same desire for acceptance to convince Esterhase to switch alliances and support him in exposing Alleline as a fraud whose arrogance has blinded him to the presence of a mole in his inner circle. Esterhase also has a penchant for making extra money on the side through small-time criminal enterprises, nominally selling [[forgery|forged]] art. Those around him look the other way dodue to his competence and value as a spy.
▲He eventually rose to be head of the Lamplighter division sometime before 1973.<ref>''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'', 136, 150-151.</ref> At the time of ''Tinker, Tailor'', Esterhase has a son at [[Westminster School|Westminster]] and a daughter at medical school.<ref>''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'', 150.</ref> He is married, but has a reputation as a womaniser.<ref>''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'', 323. Also see an example of Esterhase flirting in ''Smiley's People'', (London: Coronet/Hodder & Stoughton, 1992), 314. {{ISBN|0 340 55917 9}}.</ref>
 
▲==History==
When the Circus became polarised between supporters of the ailing Chief, "[[Control (fictional character)|Control]]", and his rival, Percy Alleline, Esterhase gravitated towards Alleline out of ambition, forgetting his past loyalty to Smiley, who was Control's supporter. Along with Alleline, [[Bill Haydon]], and Roy Bland, Esterhase forms part of the "magic circle" with access to the marvelous Soviet intelligence code-named "Witchcraft," supplied by the mysterious "Source Merlin."<ref>''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'', 137-145, 314-315.</ref>
Toby Esterhase was recruited by [[George Smiley]] at some point during the course of the [[World War II|Second World War]]. A Hungarian national, Smiley found Esterhase in [[Vienna]] as a starving student living in the ruins of a museum of which his late uncle had been curator.<ref>John Le Carre, ''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'' (London: Coronet Books/Hodder & Stoughton, 1989), 150. {{ISBN|0 340 51308 X}}.</ref> Esterhase is potentially of a noble background. The [[Esterházy|Esterházy's]] held historic prominence in Hungary as one of the most significant land-owning families in the [[Austro-Hungarian Empire]] from the 17th century onwards, though Esterhase's reputation for deception makes it uncertain whether he was merely pretending to be affiliated with the family. This, however, is never specifically mentioned by le Carré.
 
Esterhase is one of the five high-ranking Circus officers Control suspects of being a Soviet [[mole (espionage)|mole]].<ref>''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'', 283.</ref> After Control's death, Esterhase embraces the new Alleline regime and allows his Lamplighters to be almost entirely given over to serving Operation Witchcraft, which is in fact nothing but a disinformation campaign orchestrated by Soviet spymaster [[Karla (fictional character)|Karla]]. Esterhase's own role is to pretend to be a Soviet mole when meeting with the Soviets. They know he is not, of course, but his pretense provides a cover story for Alleline, Bland, and Esterhase himself, justifying his role as a courier between the real mole, Haydon, and his Soviet controllers.<ref>''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'', 314-321.</ref>▼
 
After patient investigation, Smiley decides to interview Esterhase in private, in a safe house meeting to which he has been lured on a pretext by Peter Guillam, explaining to him how Karla has fooled them all into providing cover for his own mole's activities. Esterhase appears disbelieving, but professes himself willing to help when he realises that Smiley has the official backing of Oliver Lacon, hence [[Whitehall]] and realises the implications of his having been the courier for sealed packets, whose contents he has not seen, to the Soviet agents. He tells Smiley enough about the contact procedures for Operation Witchcraft for Smiley to entrap the real mole, Bill Haydon. In the aftermath of Haydon's exposure, Esterhase and the rest of the magic circle are disgraced.<ref>''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'', 309-323.</ref>
 
In ''The Honourable Schoolboy'', it is revealed that Esterhase, unlike Alleline and Bland, has managed to retain a position in the Circus, albeit in a diminished role as a simple surveillance agent, accompanying Smiley's higher-ranking lieutenants to record their conversations with witnesses and sources. <ref>John Le Carre, ''The Honourable Schoolboy'' (London: Coronet/Hodder & Stoughton, 1989), 105. {{ISBN|0 340 49490 5}}. Also see ''The Secret Pilgrim'', 123. </ref>▼
 
The Circus paired Esterhase with Smiley's future protegé, Peter Guillam, for his first overseas operation, albeit to varying degrees of success. During a posting to [[Bern]], [[Switzerland]], for example, the pair came under suspicion for organising acts liable to be considered a [[seditious conspiracy]] by the local police and were forced to flee the country. Seemingly, however, Esterhase developed a solid reputation as an operative that enabled him to rise through the ranks of British Intelligence. Sometime prior to the events of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, he was made head of the Lamplighter section.
In ''Smiley's People'', he has retired from the Circus and opened a second-rate art gallery in London, whose wares are of dubious provenance. An old Circus agent, Vladimir, approaches him, asking for help with a private operation, but Esterhase refuses. When Vladimir is later killed, Esterhase somewhat shamefacedly recounts their meeting to Smiley.<ref>''Smiley's People'', 166-185.</ref>
 
Following the failure of Operation Testify and the presumed death of [[Jim Prideaux]] in 1973, Esterhase supported Sir Percy Alleline's successful attempt to oust [[Control (fictional character)|Control]] as Chief of the Circus. In the process, Esterhase also abandoned previous loyalties to Smiley, resulting in both men being forced into early retirement. Esterhase is one of the first people Smiley appeals to in his attempt to preserve Control's position, citing their past friendship; Esterhase demurs, citing Control's habit of allowing younger personnel to mistreat him. In the aftermath, Esterhase, [[Bill Haydon]] and Roy Bland form the "magic circle" alongside Alleline, using their exclusive access to "Merlin", a Soviet intelligence source handled by Operation "Witchcraft", to assume leadership of the Circus.<ref>''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'', 137-145, 314-315.</ref>
When Vladimir's death leads Smiley to a possible means of trapping Karla, he recruits Esterhase for an espionage operation in [[Bern]]e, to capture and interrogate one of Karla's agents.<ref>''Smiley's People'', 288-289.</ref> Esterhase serves as Smiley's field commander, reactivating the Lamplighters to follow, investigate, and eventually trap the Soviet spy in question—to use Smiley's theatrical analogy, Smiley writes the show, and Esterhase produces it—a job he performs superbly.<ref>''Smiley's People'', 300-306, 312-317, 326-364.</ref> He is also with Smiley in [[Berlin]] when Karla [[defection|defects]] to the West and surrenders himself to Circus custody.<ref>''Smiley's People'', 383.</ref>▼
 
▲Unbeknownst to everyone except Prideaux and Haydon, Esterhase iswas one of the five high-ranking Circus officers Controlunder suspectsinvestigation ofby beingControl as a potential Soviet [[mole (espionage)|mole]].<ref>''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'', 283.</ref> AfterHowever, Control's death,was Esterhaseousted embracesand thedied newof Allelinecancer regimebefore andhe allowscould hisconclude Lamplightersthe toinvestigation. beUnder Alleline, Esterhase refocused almost entirelythe entire givenLamplighter oversection to servingsupport Operation Witchcraft, whichunaware isthe inoperation factis nothing butactually a disinformation campaign orchestrated by Soviet spymaster [[Karla (fictional character)|Karla]]. Esterhase's own role is to pretend to be a Soviet mole when meeting with the Soviets. They know he is not, of course, but his pretense provides a cover story for Alleline, Bland, and Esterhase himself, justifying his role as a courier between the real mole, Haydon, and his Soviet controllers.<ref>''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'', 314-321.</ref> After patient investigation, Smiley interviews Esterhase in private, in a safe house meeting to which he has been lured on a pretext by Peter Guillam. After realizing that he's been taken advantage of, and that Smiley has the official backing of [[Whitehall]], Esterhase helps Smiley entrap the real mole, Bill Haydon.
Esterhase is a minor character in the short-story collection ''The Secret Pilgrim,'' occasionally referenced by the book's narrator, Ned. The book reveals that, between the time of ''The Honourable Schoolboy'' and ''Smiley's People,'' he became the head of the Circus' [[Vienna]] office. Esterhase is one of the central characters in a farcical vignette in which he gets rid of a charlatan—an exiled Hungarian professor based in [[Frankfurt]], who provides the British with virtually worthless information—by successfully convincing the [[CIA]] that he is a dauntless anti-Communist hero. Although Ned is infuriated by the incident, Smiley dismisses it as amusing. Esterhase reappears at the end of the novel to attend a speech given by Smiley, standing out from the crowd in an ostentatious [[tuxedo]]<ref>John Le Carre, ''The Secret Pilgrim'' (London: Coronet/Hodder & Stoughton, 1991), 122-123, 129-130 & 141-152. {{ISBN|0 340 55205 0}}.</ref>▼
In the aftermath of Haydon's exposure, Esterhase and the rest of the magic circle are disgraced.<ref>''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'', 309-323.</ref>
 
▲InDespite being disgraced in the wake of Witchcraft's failure, it is revealed in ''The Honourable Schoolboy'', itthat Esterhase is revealedthe thatonly Esterhasesurvivor of the operational fallout. Haydon is killed before he can be traded to the Soviet Union, unlikepresumably by Prideaux, whilst Alleline and Bland, hasare manageddisgraced toand retainforced aout position inof the CircusService. Esterhase, albeithowever, inis ademoted diminished role asto a simple surveillance agent, role accompanying Smiley's higher-ranking lieutenants to record their conversations with witnesses and sources. <ref>John Le Carre, ''The Honourable Schoolboy'' (London: Coronet/Hodder & Stoughton, 1989), 105. {{ISBN|0 340 49490 5}}. Also see ''The Secret Pilgrim'', 123. </ref>
Esterhase is briefly mentioned in a cameo role in ''A Legacy of Spies'' where he, together with Percy Alleline and Roy Bland, meet Peter Guillam at the field dispatch office at Heathrow Airport. <ref>John Le Carre, ''A Legacy of Spies'' (London: Viking, 2017), 149 and also 145. {{ISBN|978 0 241 30855 4}}. </ref>▼
 
By 1977, the year of ''Smiley's People'', Esterhase is retired from British Intelligence and operates a second-rate art gallery in London selling forgeries of [[Edgar Degas]] and other artists. During this time, he is approached to assist with a private operation by Vladimir, an [[Estonia|Estonian]] dissident and ex-Circus asset formerly run by Esterhase and Smiley. Esterhase refuses and Vladimir is subsequently assassinated by the Thirteenth Directorate, Karla's specialist [[KGB]] division. When Smiley exits retirement to investigate, Esterhase somewhat shamefacedly recounts their meeting.<ref>''Smiley's People'', 166-185.</ref>
==Appearance and character==
According to Adam Sisman, the character of Esterhase was partly inspired by the Hungarian emigre and book publisher Andre Deutsch:
"When David [i.e. Le Carre] came to write his novel ''Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy'', he would draw on Deutsch for his character Toby Esterhase, who like his original would speak his own form of English."<ref>Adam Sisman, ''John Le Carre: the Biography'' (London: Bloomsbury, 2015), 314. {{ISBN|978 1 4088 2792 5}}.</ref>▼
 
▲When Vladimir's death leads Smiley to a possible means of trapping Karla, he recruits Esterhase for an espionage operation in [[Bern]]e, to capture and interrogate one of Karla's agents.<ref>''Smiley's People'', 288-289.</ref> Esterhase serves as Smiley's field commander, reactivating the Lamplighters to follow, investigate, and eventually trap the Soviet spy in question—to use Smiley's theatrical analogy, Smiley writes the show, and Esterhase produces it—a job he performs superbly.<ref>''Smiley's People'', 300-306, 312-317, 326-364.</ref> He is also with Smiley in [[Berlin]] when Karla [[defection|defects]] to the West and surrenders himself to Circus custody.<ref>''Smiley's People'', 383.</ref>
Esterhase is described as a very slight ([[Connie Sachs]] called him "Tiny Tobe"), stiff-backed man, with silvery hair and a crisp, unfriendly jaw; he rarely smiles.<ref>''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'', 91-92.</ref> [[Peter Guillam]] once remarked to himself that he and Esterhase shared a hotel room in Bern(e) for three months during an operation, at the end of which he knew Esterhase no better than he did on the first day.<ref>''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'', 92.</ref>
 
▲Esterhase is a minor character in the short-story collection ''The Secret Pilgrim,'' occasionally referenced by the book's narrator, Ned. The book reveals that, between the time of ''The Honourable Schoolboy'' and ''Smiley's People,'' he became the head of the Circus' [[Vienna]] office. Esterhase is one of the central characters in a farcical vignette in which he gets rid of a charlatan—an exiled Hungarian professor based in [[FrankfurtMunich]],<ref>John Le Carre, ''The Secret Pilgrim'' (London: Coronet/Hodder & Stoughton, 1991), 126ff. {{ISBN|0 340 55205 0}}.</ref> who provides the British with virtually worthless information—by successfully convincing the [[CIA]] that he is a dauntless anti-Communist hero. Although Ned is infuriated by the incident, Smiley dismisses it as amusing. Esterhase reappears at the end of the novel to attend a speech given by Smiley, standing out from the crowd in an ostentatious [[tuxedo]].<ref>John Le Carre, ''The Secret Pilgrim'' (London: Coronet/Hodder & Stoughton, 1991), 122-123, 129-130 & 141-152. {{ISBN|0 340 55205 0}}.</ref>
Bill Haydon called him "Our shadow foreign secretary", while the Circus security functionaries known as "the Janitors" called him "[[Snow White]]" because of his hair.<ref>''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'', 178.</ref>
 
▲Esterhase is briefly mentioned in a cameo role in ''A Legacy of Spies'' where he, together with Percy Alleline and Roy Bland, meet Peter Guillam at the field dispatch office at Heathrow Airport during a [[flashback (narrative)|flashback]]; whether Toby is still alive in the present day is not revealed. <ref>John Le Carre, ''A Legacy of Spies'' (London: Viking, 2017), 149 and also 145. {{ISBN|978 0 241 30855 4}}. </ref>
A snob, and something of a dandy, Esterhase knows the places to eat and "be seen," washes his own clothes, and wears a hair net over his trademark mane.<ref>''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'', 179.</ref> Smiley reflects that Esterhase tries hard to be an English gentleman rather than a Hungarian, with sometimes comical results.
 
==Inspiration==
Both Guillam and Ned (the narrator of ''The Secret Pilgrim'') sum up Esterhase's character by saying that at certain times they want nothing to do with Esterhase, while at others they are glad to have him by their side.<ref>See Guillam's view in ''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'', 178-179, and Ned's mixed feelings in ''The Secret Pilgrim'', 123, 130, 152-153.</ref> On the one hand, Esterhase is an ambitious "climber," who will grasp any means to advance his own position or else avoid any embarrassment to himself. On the other hand, Esterhase is undeniably good at his work, and a definite asset to any intelligence operation, while he also retains some honest loyalty to the institution of the Circus, and some honest affection for Smiley, who rescued him from a life of poverty.<ref>See ''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'', 322; ''Smiley's People'', 168; ''The Secret Pilgrim'', 5-6.</ref>
▲According to "Adam Sisman, the character of Esterhase was partly inspired by the Hungarian emigre and book publisher [[André Deutsch]]: {{blockquote|When David [i.e. Le Carre] came to write his novel ''Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy'', he would draw on Deutsch for his character Toby Esterhase, who like his original would speak his own form of English."|<ref >Adam Sisman, ''John Le Carre: the Biography'' (London: Bloomsbury, 2015), 314. {{ISBN|978 1 4088 2792 5}}.</ref>}}
 
Le Carre himself described [[double agent]] [[George Blake]] as another part-inspiration, feeling some—perhaps misplaced—sympathy for "the wretched man" on account of his status as a foreigner ("half a Dutchman and half a Jew") in the British intelligence establishment.<ref>{{cite book |last1=le Carré |first1=John |title=Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy |date=7 June 2011 |publisher=Penguin |location=Introduction |isbn=978-1-101-52878-5 |edition=1991 Paperback |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MFEajdUgSnMC&dq=%22George+Blake%22+%22the+wretched+man+his+boast%22&pg=PT11 |language=en}}</ref>
As noted by Ned in ''The Secret Pilgrim'', though he had lived much of his life away from Hungary, when Esterhase is in the company of other Hungarians and speaking his mother tongue with them, he seems far more vivid than Ned ever saw him before.<ref>''The Secret Pilgrim'', 144-145.</ref>
 
==In other media==
[[Bernard Hepton]] played Esterhase in the BBC television dramatisations of ''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'' and ''Smiley's People''. In the former, Hepton played Esterhase as a typical Englishmanspeaking with a [[Received Pronunciation|standardreceived Englishpronunciation accent]], but in ''Smiley's People'', Hepton adoptedreverted ato morean Eastern European accent for the role.
 
[[Charles Kay]] played Esterhase in the BBC radio dramatisations of ''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'' and ''Smiley's People''.
 
[[David Dencik]] played Esterhase in the 2011 film version of ''[[Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (film)|Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy]]''. Dencik's Esterhase spoke with a subtle but difficult-to-place Eastern European accent. The details of Esterhase's past are altered slightly in the film. In the film,: it was Control, rather than Smiley, who first recruited Esterhase in Vienna. When Smiley confronts Esterhase about Operation Witchcraft, he states that Esterhase was a "wanted man" at the time of his recruitment and implies that EasterhaseEsterhase is still a fugitive. Although it is not specified why or by whom Esterhase is wanted, it is suggested that his fugitive status may have to do with his "war experience," which Smiley cryptically states Esterhase "survived [...] because of [his] ability to change sides, serve any master."
 
==References==
<references />
*{{cite book|last=le Carré|first=John|title=[[Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy]]|year=1974}}
*{{cite book|last=le Carré|first=John|title=[[The Honourable Schoolboy]]|year=1977}}
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[[Category:Characters in British novels of the 20th century]]
[[Category:Fictional British secret agentsspies]]
[[Category:Fictional Hungarian people]]
[[Category:John le Carré]]
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