Spy fiction is a genre of literature involving espionage as an important context or plot device. It emerged in the early twentieth century, inspired by rivalries and intrigues between the major powers, and the establishment of modern intelligence agencies. It was given new impetus by the development of fascism and communism in the lead-up to World War II, continued to develop during the Cold War, and received a fresh impetus from the emergence of rogue states, international criminal organizations, global terrorist networks, maritime piracy and technological sabotage and espionage as potent threats to Western societies. As a genre, spy fiction is thematically related to the novel of adventure, the thriller and the politico-military thriller.
Leonard Cyril Deighton is a British author. His publications have included cookery books and works on history, but he is best known for his spy novels.
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold is a 1963 Cold War spy novel by the British author John le Carré. It depicts Alec Leamas, a British agent, being sent to East Germany as a faux defector to sow disinformation about a powerful East German intelligence officer. It serves as a sequel to le Carré's previous novels Call for the Dead and A Murder of Quality, which also featured the fictitious British intelligence organization, "The Circus", and its agents George Smiley and Peter Guillam.
Captain Sir Mansfield George Smith-Cumming was a British naval officer who served as the first chief of the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS).
Sidney George Reilly, known as the "Ace of Spies", was a Russian-born adventurer and secret agent employed by Scotland Yard's Special Branch and later by the Foreign Section of the British Secret Service Bureau, the precursor to the modern British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6/SIS). He is alleged to have spied for at least four different great powers, and documentary evidence indicates that he was involved in espionage activities in 1890s London among Russian émigré circles, in Manchuria on the eve of the Russo-Japanese War (1904–05), and in an abortive 1918 coup d'état against Vladimir Lenin's Bolshevik government in Moscow.
Ethel Lilian Voynich was an Irish-born novelist and musician, and a supporter of several revolutionary causes. She was born in Cork, but grew up in Lancashire, England.
Reilly, Ace of Spies is a 1983 British television programme dramatizing the life of Sidney Reilly, a Russian-born adventurer who became one of the greatest spies ever to work for the United Kingdom and the British Empire. Among his exploits, in the early 20th century, were the infiltration of the German General Staff in 1917 and a near-overthrow of the Bolsheviks in 1918. His reputation with women was as legendary as his genius for espionage.
The Spy Who Came In from the Cold is a 1965 British spy film based on the 1963 novel of the same name by John le Carré. The film stars Richard Burton, Claire Bloom, and Oskar Werner. It was directed by Martin Ritt, and the screenplay was written by Paul Dehn and Guy Trosper.
Len Deighton is an English author known for his novels, works of military history, screenplays and cookery writing. He had a varied career, including as a pastry cook, waiter, co-editor of a magazine, teacher and air steward before writing his first novel in 1962: The IPCRESS File. He continued to produce what his biographer John Reilly considers "stylish, witty, well-crafted novels" in spy fiction, including three trilogies and a prequel featuring Bernard Samson.
The Stars Are Dark is a 1943 spy thriller novel by the British writer Peter Cheyney. It was published in America with the alternative title The London Spy Murders. It follows on from the 1942 novel Dark Duet focusing on British counter intelligence operations during the Second World War, and introduces the character of Quale a senior British intelligence officer would appear in several novels.
The Cold Dark Night is a 1957 spy thriller novel by the British writer Sarah Gainham. Her second novel, it is set at the height of the Cold War when the 1954 Berlin Conference saw the Big Four foreign ministers arrive in the divided city. Gainham had worked in Berlin as a journalist at the time of the Conference.
The Mythmaker is a 1957 spy thriller novel by the British writer Sarah Gainham, her third published novel. At with many of her works it takes place in Vienna, where she settled in the post-war era. It was released in the United States in 1958 under the alternative title Appointment in Vienna.
A Place in the Country is a 1969 novel by the British writer Sarah Gainham. It was the second in her Vienna trilogy following on from the popular first novel Night Falls on the City.
Private Worlds is a 1971 novel by the British writer Sarah Gainham. It was the third in her Vienna trilogy following the popular first novel Night Falls on the City.
The Silent Hostage is a 1960 spy thriller novel by the British writer Sarah Gainham. Before writing her most celebrated work Night Falls on the City, Gainham produced several thrillers set in Continental Europe where she had lived since 1947. The novel takes place on the Adriatic Coast of Yugoslavia not long after the Second World War.
The Whip Hand is a 1965 spy novel by the British writer Victor Canning. It is the first in a series of four novels about Rex Carver, a private detective drawn back into his old profession of espionage. The novel also features the secret service agent Manston who had previously appeared in The Limbo Line, Canning's previous novel.
Doubled in Diamonds is a 1966 spy thriller novel by the British Victor Canning. It is the second in a series of four novels about Rex Carver, a private detective drawn back into his old profession of espionage.
The Python Project is a 1967 spy thriller novel by the British Victor Canning. It is the third in a series of four novels about Rex Carver, a private detective drawn back into his old profession of espionage. A complex plot which involves a jewel robbery and the exchange of prisoners between the British and Soviet intelligence services takes place in a variety of locations including London, Paris, Libya and the Balearic Islands.
Let Sleeping Girls Lie is a 1965 spy thriller novel by the British writer Stephen Coulter, published under the pen name James Mayo. It is the second in a series of five novels by Coulter, featuring the British secret agent Charles Hood. The series was an attempt to capitalise on the popularity of the James Bond novels and films. It was published in London by Heinemann and New York City by William Morrow. While the book sold well, it received a poor critical reception. Writer Anthony Boucher's review noted "Let Sleeping Girls Lie has loads of sex, sadism and snobbery, and no sense at all of plot or structure". although he praised the novel's action and sex scenes. The first Hood novel Hammerhead was made into film of the same title in 1968, but the poor reception ended producer Irving Allen's plans to film the sequels and create a rival to the Bond series.
The Crouching Beast is a 1928 spy thriller novel by the British author Valentine Williams. It is part of his series of novels and short stories featuring the character of "Clubfoot", the alias of Doctor Adolph Grunt a brilliant but sinister German secret service mastermind. It is set in Constantinople, capital of the Ottoman Empire, during the First World War.
