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.
The spy film, also known as the spy thriller, is a genre of film that deals with the subject of fictional espionage, either in a realistic way or as a basis for fantasy. Many novels in the spy fiction genre have been adapted as films, including works by John Buchan, le Carré, Ian Fleming (Bond) and Len Deighton. It is a significant aspect of British cinema, with leading British directors such as Alfred Hitchcock and Carol Reed making notable contributions and many films set in the British Secret Service.
David John Moore Cornwell, better known by his pen name John le Carré, was a British author, best known for his espionage novels, many of which were successfully adapted for film or television. A "sophisticated, morally ambiguous writer", he is considered one of the greatest novelists of the postwar era. During the 1950s and 1960s, he worked for both the Security Service (MI5) and the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6). Near the end of his life, le Carré became an Irish citizen.
Dame Stella Rimington is a British author and former Director General of MI5, a position she held from 1992 to 1996. She was the first female DG of MI5, and the first DG whose name was publicised on appointment. In 1993, Rimington became the first DG of MI5 to pose openly for cameras at the launch of a brochure outlining the organisation's activities.
Robert Dennis Harris is a British novelist and former journalist. Although he began his career in journalism and non-fiction, he is best known for his works of historical fiction. Beginning with the best-seller Fatherland, Harris focused on events surrounding the Second World War, followed by works set in ancient Rome. His most recent works are varied in settings but are mostly set after 1870.
Anthony Frederick Blunt, styled Sir Anthony Blunt from 1956 until November 1979, was a leading British art historian and Soviet spy.
William Andrew Murray Boyd is a British novelist, short story writer and screenwriter.
Rupert William Simon Allason is a British former Conservative Party politician and author. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Torbay in Devon, from 1987 to 1997. He writes books and articles on the subject of espionage under the pen name Nigel West.
A number of real-life inspirations have been suggested for James Bond, the fictional character created in 1953 by British author, journalist and former Naval Intelligence officer Ian Fleming (1908–1964); Bond appeared in twelve novels and nine short stories by Fleming, as well as a number of continuation novels and twenty-six films, with seven actors playing the role of Bond.
William John Christopher Vassall was a British civil servant who spied for the Soviet Union, allegedly under pressure of blackmail, from 1954 until his arrest in 1962. Although operating only at a junior level, he was able to provide details of naval technology which were crucial to the modernising of the Soviet Navy. He was sentenced to eighteen years' imprisonment, and was released in 1972, after having served ten. The Vassall scandal greatly embarrassed the Macmillan government, but was soon eclipsed by the more dramatic Profumo affair.
British Security Co-ordination (BSC) was a covert organisation set up in New York City by the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) in May 1940 upon the authorisation of the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill.
Rupert Thomson, FRSL is an English writer. He is the author of thirteen critically acclaimed novels and an award-winning memoir. He has lived in many cities around the world, including Athens, Berlin, New York, Sydney, Los Angeles, Amsterdam and Rome. In 2010, after several years in Barcelona, he moved back to London. He has contributed to the Financial Times, the Guardian, the London Review of Books, Granta and the Independent.
Hayley Elizabeth Atwell is a British and American actress. After appearing in various West End productions, Atwell gained popularity for her roles in period-drama films, appearing in the films Brideshead Revisited (2008), The Duchess (2008) and the miniseries The Pillars of the Earth (2010); for the latter two, she was nominated for a British Independent Film Award and a Golden Globe Award respectively.
Benedict Richard Pierce Macintyre is a British author, reviewer and columnist for The Times newspaper. His columns range from current affairs to historical controversies.
Jessica Kathryn Burton is an English author; As of 2022, she has published four novels, The Miniaturist, The Muse, The Confession, The House of Fortune and two books for children, The Restless Girls and Medusa. All four adult novels were Sunday Times best-sellers, with The Miniaturist, The Muse and The House of Fortune reaching no. 1, and both The Miniaturist and The Muse were New York Times best-sellers, and Radio 4's Books at Bedtime. Collectively her novels have been published in almost 40 languages. Her short stories have been published in Harpers Bazaar US and Stylist.
John Nicholas Rede Elliott was an MI6 intelligence officer. His MI6 career was notable for his involvement with the Lionel Crabb affair in the 1950s and the flight of double agent Kim Philby to Moscow in 1963.
Moreton Road is a residential road in the Oxford suburb of North Oxford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom.
Waiting for Sunrise is a 2012 espionage novel by William Boyd. The book was published on April 17, 2012, by Bloomsbury Press in the United Kingdom and by HarperCollins in the United States.
Restless is a 2012 British TV adaptation of William Boyd's espionage novel Restless (2006). Directed by Edward Hall, the film features Hayley Atwell, Rufus Sewell, Michelle Dockery, Michael Gambon and Charlotte Rampling. The two parts first aired on 27 and 28 December 2012 on BBC One.
Sweet Caress: The Many Lives of Amory Clay is a novel by William Boyd, published by Bloomsbury in 2015. A fictional autobiography supposedly written by a woman, Amory Clay, born in 1908, it includes extracts from her diary, written on a Hebridean island in 1977, with flashbacks from her career as a photographer in London, Scotland, France, Germany, the United States, Mexico and Vietnam. The book also includes more than 70 photographs, collected by Boyd, most of which are attributed to her.
