Limit this search to....

Intrigue: Espionage and Culture
Contributor(s): Hepburn, Allan (Author)
ISBN: 0300104987     ISBN-13: 9780300104981
Publisher: Yale University Press
OUR PRICE:   $73.26  
Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats
Published: March 2005
Qty:
Annotation: Why do spies have such cachet in the twentieth century? Why do they keep reinventing themselves? What do they mean in a political process? This book examines the tradition of the spy narrative from its inception in the late nineteenth century through the present day. Ranging from John le Carre ' s bestsellers to Elizabeth Bowen' s novels, from James Bond to John Banville' s contemporary narratives, Allan Hepburn sets the historical contexts of these fictions: the Cambridge spy ring; the Profumo Affair; the witch-hunts against gay men in the civil service and diplomatic corps in the 1950s.


Instead of focusing on the formulaic nature of the genre, "Intrigue" emphasizes the responsiveness of spy stories to particular historical contingencies. Hepburn begins by offering a systematic theory of the conventions and attractions of espionage fiction and then examines the British and Irish tradition of spy novels. A final section considers the particular form that American spy narratives have taken as they have cross-fertilized with the tradition of American romance in works such as Joan Didion' s "Democracy "and" "John Barth' s "Sabbatical."

Additional Information
BISAC Categories:
- Literary Criticism | English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh
Dewey: 823.087
LCCN: 2004015680
Physical Information: 0.97" H x 6.42" W x 9.52" (1.36 lbs) 352 pages
Themes:
- Chronological Period - 20th Century
- Cultural Region - British Isles
 
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc.
Publisher Description:

An inventive and surprising examination of a century of spy fiction.

Why do spies have such cachet in the twentieth century? Why do they keep reinventing themselves? What do they mean in a political process? This book examines the tradition of the spy narrative from its inception in the late nineteenth century through the present day. Ranging from John le Carr 's bestsellers to Elizabeth Bowen's novels, from James Bond to John Banville's contemporary narratives, Allan Hepburn sets the historical contexts of these fictions: the Cambridge spy ring; the Profumo Affair; the witch-hunts against gay men in the civil service and diplomatic corps in the 1950s.


Instead of focusing on the formulaic nature of the genre, Intrigue emphasizes the responsiveness of spy stories to particular historical contingencies. Hepburn begins by offering a systematic theory of the conventions and attractions of espionage fiction and then examines the British and Irish tradition of spy novels. A final section considers the particular form that American spy narratives have taken as they have cross-fertilized with the tradition of American romance in works such as Joan Didion's Democracy andJohn Barth's Sabbatical.