le Carré: The Tailor of Panama

e Carré's Panama-- the young country due to gain control of the Canal December 31, 1999 -- is a Casablanca without heroes, a hotbed of drugs, laundered money, and corruption. Seldom has the weight of global politics descended so heavily on such a tiny & unprepared nation.

And seldom has the hidden eye of British intelligence selected such an unlikely champion as tailor Harry Pendel, evader, charmer, and presiding genius of Pendel & Braithwaite Limitada.

Yet the choice is not without its logic-- everybody who is anybody in Central America passes through Pendel's doors. He dresses everyone from the Panamanian President to politicos, crooks, and spies. His fitting room hears more confidences than a priest's confessional...