Espionage and Exile : : Fascism and Anti-Fascism in British Spy Fiction and Film / / Phyllis Lassner.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Edinburgh University Press Complete eBook-Package 2016
• VerfasserIn: Lassner, Phyllis,
• Place / Publishing House: Edinburgh : : Edinburgh University Press, , [2022]; ©2016
• Year of Publication: 2022
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (272 p.) :; 12 B/W illustrations

Analyses mid-twentieth century British spy thrillers as resistance to political oppressionEspionage and Exile demonstrates that from the 1930s through the Cold War British writers Eric Ambler, Helen MacInnes, John le Carré, Pamela Frankau and filmmaker Leslie Howard combine propaganda and popular entertainment to call for resistance to political oppression. Their spy fictions deploy themes of deception and betrayal to warn audiences of the consequences of Nazi Germany's conquests and later, the fusion of Fascist and Communist oppression. With politically charged suspense and compelling plots and characters, these writers challenge distinctions between villain and victim and exile and belonging by dramatising relationships between stateless refugees, British agents, and most dramatically, between the ethics of espionage and responses to international crisis.Key FeaturesThe first narrative analysis of mid-twentieth century British spy thrillers demonstrating their critiques of political responses to the dangers of Fascism, Nazism, and CommunismCombines research in history and political theory with literary and film analysisAdds interpretive complexity to understanding the political content of modern cultural productionOriginal close readings of the fiction of Eric Ambler, John Le Carré and British women spy thriller writers of World War II and the Cold War, including Helen MacInnes, Ann Bridge, and Pamela Frankau as well as the wartime radio broadcasts and films of Leslie Howard

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction: Exile - The Heart of the Secret World -- 1. Eric Ambler: Espionage Chronicler of the 1930s -- 2. Double Agency: Women Writers of Espionage Fiction -- 3. Leslie Howard: Propaganda Artist -- 4. John le Carré's Never-ending War of Exile -- Conclusion -- Bibliography -- Index