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Silent Game: The Real World of Imaginary Spies by David Stafford (Paperback, 2012)

The Silent Game traces the history of spy writers and their fiction from creator William Le Queux, of the Edwardian age, to John le Carre, of the Cold War era. David Stafford reveals the connections between fact and fiction as seen in the lives of writers with experience in intelligence, including John Buchan, Compton Mackenzie, Somerset Maugham, Ian Fleming, and Graham Greene. Le Queux used his spy fiction as xephobic propaganda before and after World War I, and le Carre's vels have provided reflections on the Cold War and the decline of Britain's influence. Anxieties about the decline of the American empire have helped stimulate a more vigorous American literature of espionage, providing an index of contemporary American concerns about power relations. As Stafford suggests, the genre of espionage fiction rarely intends to document the real world of intelligence. Rather, it provides a popular vehicle for exploring themes of imperial decline, international crisis, and impending war.

Place of Publication
Georgia
Spine
15mm
Content Note
Black & White Illustrations
Author Biography
David Stafford is the author of ten books including Secret Agent: The True Story of the Covert War against Hitler, Spies beneath Berlin, Ten Days to D-Day: Citizens and Soldiers on the Eve of the Invasion, and Endgame, 1945: The Missing Final Chapter of World War II.
Date of Publication
28/02/2012
Genre
Fiction Companions
Country of Publication
United States

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