Spy fiction

The spy fiction genre as it is currently recognised is usually thought of as a fairly recent phenomenon, and appears to be concerned primarily with the exploits of spies during the Cold War, but in reality the genre has a very long and extremely disparate history. An early example of the spy novel genre is to be found in the activities of [Baroness Orczy]?'s [The Scarlet Pimpernel]? recounting the undercover exploits of an English aristocrat in his attempts to rescue members of the French aristocracy during the French Revolution. Erskine Childers' novel, [The Riddle of the Sands]?, defined the spy novel for the First World War. Much of the science fiction writer Philip K. Dick's work is also concerned with subterfuge in a futuristic interplanetary setting.

Prominent writers of spy fiction:

[Eric Ambler]?

[John le Carre]?

[Erskine Childers]?

Tom Clancy

Joseph Conrad

[Len Deighton]?

[Paul Eddy]?

[Ian Fleming]?

[Frederick Forsyth]?

[Graham Greene]?

[Robert Harris]?

[Baroness Orczy]?

Charles McCarry