Intelligence

A history of the espionage novel

A History of the Espionage Novel

The espionage novel has a major conundrum at its heart: spooks are supposed to keep secrets, not blab them. Furthermore, until WWII the prevailing "gentlemen do not read each other's mail" ethos prevented literary glamor from attaching to espionage. By now, of course, the spy's lonely life has become a metaphor for every type of existential piety -- but until the mid-20th century, spooks were considered seedy, shady stool-pigeons, liars, and traitors. If you know anything interesting about the history of the espionage novel, share the knowledge by sending us e-mail.

YEAR TITLE/NAME ACHIEVEMENT
1907 The Secret Agent
Joseph Conrad Allegedly based on the Siege of Sidney Street, in which small-time informant Verloc and his anarchist cronies plan an act of terrorism.
1928 Ashenden; or the British Agent
W. Somerset Maugham Often termed the first realistic spy novel, this semi-fictional account of Maugham's WWI adventures is actually a collection of loosely linked (and now almost unreadably dull) stories.
1938 Epitaph for a Spy
Eric Ambler Ambler's distinctly unromantic style emerged in this tale of a reluctant spy-hunter.
1941 Above Suspicion
Helen MacInnes An early example of a durable chestnut: the Oxford don recruited for anti-Nazi activities.
1952 Death in Captivity
Michael Gilbert As far as I know, the first example of what would become an espionage classic: the WWII POW novel. In this case, based on the author's own experience in an Italian officer's camp, the plot is more whodunitish.
1958 Our Man in Havana
Graham Greene Although Greene had featured spies before (The Confidential Agent, 1939), his own experience during WWII seems to have pointed up the tragicomic rather than dramatic aspect of the trade -- which he expressed in this tale of a hapless vacuum-cleaner saleman.
1962 The Ipcress File
Len Deighton Espionage becomes a profession for upwardly-mobile working people rather than an upper-class game.
1963 The Spy Who Came In From the Cold
John Le Carré Espionage establishments have become vicious, meaningless bureaucracies in Smiley's world.

February 1, 2004 at 11:21 AM in Espionage - general | Permalink | Top of page | Blog Home