Cover Stories (Routledge Revivals): Narrative and Ideology in the British Spy Thriller

First published in 1987, this title tracks the spy thriller from John Buchanan to Eric Ambler, Ian Fleming and John Le Carr , and shows how these tales of spies, moles, and the secret service tell a history of modern society, translating the political and cultural transformations of the twentieth century into the intrigues of a shadow world of secret agents. Combining cultural history with narrative analysis, Cover Stories explores the two main traditions of the thriller: the thriller of the work, in which bureaucratic routines are invested with political meaning; and the thriller of leisure, in which the sports and games that kill time become a time of dangerous political contests. Examining the characteristic narrative structures of the spy novel - the adventure formulas and the plots of betrayal, disguise and doubles - Denning shows how they attempt to resolve crises and contradictions in ideologies of nation and empire, and of class and gender.