The Night Manager: The Insider's Guide

THE NIGHT MANAGER: The Insider’s Guide


In Cairo at the height of the Arab Spring, hotel night manager Jonathan Pine receives a plea for help from the beautiful Sophie Alekan; she has evidence of an arms deal that could crush the popular uprising. Compelled to intervene, Pine contacts the British Embassy, but in doing so is unwittingly drawn into the terrifying world of ruthless arms dealer, Richard Roper. 


Angela Burr is a UK government enforcement agent, intent on bringing down Roper’s empire. But a leak of Sophie Alekan’s evidence triggers a chain of events that ends in tragedy, despite Angela Burr’s attempts to intervene.


Four years later, Pine reconnects with Angela Burr. Together, they forge a plan to bring Roper down. But Pine must survive on his wits alone in a struggle with his sworn enemy, whilst Burr must weigh up the value of one life against her determination to take down the worst man in the world.


The Night Manager: The Insider’s Guide provides a unique insight into the complex process of bringing John le Carré’s acclaimed novel to the screen. It includes pieces by John le Carré, Hugh Laurie, Tom Hiddleston and other key members of the cast, alongside contributions from the crew and real-world experts, with clips and stills from the series and from behind the scenes, to form an essential companion to this landmark television series. 


The Night Manager: The Insider’s Guide includes: 


• An essay by John le Carré, with supporting video footage, in which he explains his involvement in the process of bringing The Night Manager to the screen, and reflects on previous adaptations of his work. There are pages from his original handwritten manuscripts for The Night Manager, previously unseen and exclusively included here.


• The opening chapter of The Night Manager, le Carré’s 1993 novel.


• A piece by Hugh Laurie, written exclusively for the book, where he describes his love of the book and how he inhabits the character of Richard Roper – ‘the worst man in the world’.


• An article by Tom Hiddleston exploring the complexities of le Carré’s work, and explaining how he became Jonathan Pine, the Night Manager.


• A specially-commissioned article and video by the director of The Night Manager, Oscar™-winner Susanne Bier.


• A reflection by David Farr, the show’s screenwriter, on adapting the novel, and on working with John le Carré.


• A piece in which one of the executive producers of the show, Spooks creator Stephen Garrett, interrogates the parallels that exist between the worlds of the spy, the con man and the actor.


• Extensive and exclusive insights from the team that brought the book to the screen, in which the producers, the production designer, the costume designer and the cinematographer describe their approach and experiences creating the series – all with supporting pictures, drawings, images and clips.


• Specially commissioned articles and audio interviews by Andrew Feinstein, expert on the international arms trade, and Federico Varese, professor of criminology at Oxford (who was a consultant on the series). They uncover the history and activities of the arms dealers who are the real-world counterparts to Richard Roper. The chapter also includes interviews with Journalist and Broadcaster Gordon Corera, and author Matthew Dunn, who talk about this murky world and its key players.


• A gallery of the characters who feature in The Night Manager: “Welcome to the family”


“It’s been one of the unexpected miracles of my writing life: a novel I had written more than twenty years ago, buried deep in the archive of a major movie company that had bought the rights but never got around to making the movie, suddenly spirited back to life and re-told for our times. And how! “ John le Carré, London. January 2016