The genre of spy fiction — sometimes called political thriller or spy thriller — arose before World War I, and at about the same time that the first modern intelligence agencies were formed. Seldom has this literary field met with much critical acclaim, although insightful, literate, and politically important works have been published in it. A genre is a division of a particular form of art according to criteria particular to that form. ... Combatants Allies: • Serbia, • Russia, • France, • Romania, • Belgium, • British Empire and Dominions, • United States, • Italy, • ...and others Central Powers: • Germany, • Austria-Hungary, • Ottoman Empire, • Bulgaria Casualties Military dead: 5 million Civilian dead: 3 million Total: 8 million Full list Military dead: 3 million Civilian dead: 3 million Total: 6 million Full... An intelligence agency is a governmental organization devoted to gathering of information by means of espionage (spying), communication interception, cryptoanalysis, cooperation with other institutions, and evaluation of public sources. ...

At the same time, it has enjoyed great popular success. Readership waned only in the lull following the end of the Cold War (the Berlin Wall fell in November 1989). But the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States have reignited interest and reversed that trend. Some pundits are referring to the current era as the Decade of the Spy, and pointing to the renaissance in spy fiction and film as two of the indicators of this. The Cold War was the protracted geopolitical, ideological, and economic struggle that emerged after World War II between the global superpowers of the Soviet Union and the United States, supported by their respective and emerging alliance partners. ... Remnant of the Berlin Wall near Potsdamer Platz, June 2003. ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The World Trade Center on fire The September 11, 2001 attacks were a series of coordinated terrorist attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001. ...

Before World War II

Early spy novels include Rudyard Kipling's Kim (1901), which was based on The Great Game (espionage and politics) between Europe and Asia and centered on Afghanistan; and Baroness Orczy's The Scarlet Pimpernel (1905), recounting the undercover exploits of an English aristocrat's attempts to rescue French aristocrats during the French Revolution. Robert Erskine Childers's novel The Riddle of the Sands (1903) defined the spy novel for the pre-First World War era. Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling (December 30, 1865 – January 18, 1936) was a British author and poet, born in India. ... Kim is a spy novel and picaresque novel, written by Rudyard Kipling and first published in 1901. ... 1901 (MCMI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Central Asia, circa 1848 The Great Game is a term, usually attributed to Arthur Conolly, used to describe the rivalry and strategic conflict between the British Empire and the Tsarist Russian Empire for supremacy in Central Asia. ... World map showing Europe Europe is conventionally considered one of the seven continents of Earth which, in this case, is more a cultural and political distinction than a physiogeographic one. ... Asia is the largest and most populous region or continent depending on the definition. ... Baroness Emma(Emmuska) Orczy (September 23, 1865 – November 12, 1947) was a British novelist, playwright and artist of Hungarian origin. ... The Scarlet Pimpernel is a classic adventure novel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy, set during the French Revolution. ... 1905 (MCMV) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Aristocracy is a form of government in which rulership is in the hands of an upper class known as aristocrats. ... The French Revolution (1789-1799) was a period in the history of France. ... Robert Erskine Childers Robert Erskine Childers (June 25, 1870 - November 24, 1922) was an author and Irish nationalist who was executed by the authorities of the newly independent Irish Free State during the Irish Civil War. ... The Riddle of the Sands is a 1903 novel by Erskine Childers. ... 1903 (MCMIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Combatants Allies: • Serbia, • Russia, • France, • Romania, • Belgium, • British Empire and Dominions, • United States, • Italy, • ...and others Central Powers: • Germany, • Austria-Hungary, • Ottoman Empire, • Bulgaria Casualties Military dead: 5 million Civilian dead: 3 million Total: 8 million Full list Military dead: 3 million Civilian dead: 3 million Total: 6 million Full...

The most widely read spy-fiction writer was William Le Queux, whose ordinary prose has since relegated his works to used-book stores but who was Britain's highest-selling author during the pre–World War I years. The second biggest seller was E. Phillip Openheim. Together they produced hundreds of books between 1900 and 1914, but the stories were formulaic and have been judged to be of little literary merit. William Tufnell Le Queux (1864 - 1927) was a British journalist and writer. ... 1900 (MCM) was an exceptional common year starting on Monday. ... 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... Literary Merit a written text has Liteary Merit if it is a work of quality, that is if it has some aesthetic value. ...

During the First World War, the pre-eminent author was John Buchan, a skilled propagandist; his books were well-written portrayals of the war as a conflict between civilization and barbarism. His best-known works are the Richard Hannay novels Greenmantle and The Thirty-Nine Steps (the title of which, but not the plot, was used for an Alfred Hitchcock film.) Buchan's novels are still published. Combatants Allies: • Serbia, • Russia, • France, • Romania, • Belgium, • British Empire and Dominions, • United States, • Italy, • ...and others Central Powers: • Germany, • Austria-Hungary, • Ottoman Empire, • Bulgaria Casualties Military dead: 5 million Civilian dead: 3 million Total: 8 million Full list Military dead: 3 million Civilian dead: 3 million Total: 6 million Full... John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir (August 26, 1875 - February 11, 1940), was a Scottish novelist and politician who served as Governor General of Canada. ... The word civilization (or civilisation) has a variety of meanings related to human society. ... A barbarism is a word or expression that is not standard in a language. ... Richard Hannay is the fictional secret agent created by Scottish novelist, John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir. ... Greenmantle is the second of the Richard Hannay novels by John Buchan, first published in 1916. ... The Thirty-Nine Steps is an adventure novel by John Buchan, first published in 1915. ... Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock KBE (13 August 1899–29 April 1980) was a British-born film director and producer, closely associated with the suspense thriller genre. ... This article is about motion pictures. ...

The inter-war period's pulp spy fiction mostly concerned battling Bolsheviks. Bolshevik Party Meeting. ...

World War II

The strength and versatility of the form became evident in the period between the two wars and flowered during World War II. For the first time, novels written by retired intelligence officers such as W. Somerset Maugham, who accurately portrayed spying in the First World War in Ashenden, appeared. Compton Mackenzie, another former British intelligence agent, wrote the first successful spy satire.Eric Ambler wrote of ordinary people caught in espionage in his novels Epitaph for a Spy (1938), The Mask of Dimitrios (A Coffin for Dimitrios in the United States) (1939), and Journey into Fear (1940). Ambler was notable (and shocking to some) for bringing a left-wing perspective to a genre previously featuring right-wing, Establishment attitudes. W. Somerset Maugham as photographed in 1934 by Carl Van Vechten. ... Sir (Edward Montague) Compton Mackenzie, (1883–1972), was an Scottish novelist. ... Eric Ambler (28 June 1909 - 22 October 1998) was an influential English writer who essentially invented the modern spy novel. ... 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1940 calendar). ...

In 1939, Glasgow-born author Helen MacInnes's first espionage novel, Above Suspicion, was published in Britain (1941 in the U.S.A.), beginning a 45-year career in which critics praised her for her literate, fast-paced, intricately plotted suspense novels set against contemporary history. Above Suspicion was made into a popular movie. Some of her other famous titles include Assignment in Britanny (1942), Decision at Delphi (1961), and Ride a Pale Horse (1984). 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... Helen MacInnes (born October 7, 1907 in Glasgow, Scotland; died September 30, 1985 in New York, New York) was an Scottish author of espionage novels. ... For the movie, see 1941 (film) 1941 (MCMXLI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1941 calendar). ... For other uses see film (disambiguation) Film refers to the celluliod media on which movies are printed Film — also called movies, the cinema, the silver screen, moving pictures, photoplays, picture shows, flicks, or motion pictures, — is a field that encompasses motion pictures as an art form or as part of... This article is about the year. ... 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In 1940, British writer Manning Coles brought out Drink to Yesterday, the first of his acclaimed Thomas Elphinstone Hambledon novels. It was a grim story set in World War I, while his next books, which occurred in Nazi Germany or in World War II England, had a lighter tone despite the graveness of the events depicted. After the war, Hambledon's books grew formulaic, and critical interest waned. 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1940 calendar). ... Manning Coles is the pseudonym of two British writers, Adelaide Frances Oke Manning (1891-1959) and Cyril Henry Coles (1899-1965), who wrote many spy thrillers from the early 40s through the early 60s. ... Thomas Elphinstone Hambledon (Tommy Hambledon) is the fictional protagonist of many spy novels written by the British author Manning Coles from 1940 through 1963. ... Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location (dark green) within the British Isles Languages English (de facto) Capital London de facto Largest city London Area – Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population – Total (mid-2004) – Total (2001 Census) – Density Ranked 1st...

The Cold War

The Cold War that followed hard upon World War II was a great impetus to the genre. Graham Greene drew on his experience with British Intelligence to create a number of left-wing, anti-imperialist spy novels, including The Quiet American (1952), set in southeast Asia, A Burnt-out Case (1961), about the Belgian Congo, The Comedians (1966), set in Haiti, The Honorary Consul (1973), in the Argentine town of Corrientes, near the Paraguay border, and The Human Factor (1978), about spies in London. His most popular novel was Our Man in Havana (1959), a seriocomedy about British intelligence bumbling in pre-Castro Cuba. The Cold War was the protracted geopolitical, ideological, and economic struggle that emerged after World War II between the global superpowers of the Soviet Union and the United States, supported by their respective and emerging alliance partners. ... Combatants Allies: • Poland, • UK & Commonwealth, • France/Free France, • Soviet Union, • USA, • China, ...and others Axis: • Germany, • Italy, • Japan, ...and others Casualties Military dead: 17 million Civilian dead: 33 million Total: 50 million Full list Military dead: 8 million Civilian dead: 4 million Total: 12 million Full list World War II... This article is about the writer Graham Greene. ... The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), more commonly known as MI6 (originally Military Intelligence [section] 6), or Her Majestys Secret Service or just the Secret Service, is the British external security agency. ... In politics, left-wing, political left, leftism, or simply the left, are terms which refer (with no particular precision) to the segment of the political spectrum typically associated with any of several strains of socialism, social democracy, or liberalism (especially in the American sense of the word), or with opposition... Anti-imperialism is a current within the political left advocating the collapse of imperialism. ... The Quiet American (ISBN 0099478390) is a novel written by Graham Greene in 1955. ... 1952 (MCMLII) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Location of Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is a subregion of Asia. ... 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Belgian Congo was the formal title of present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) between King Léopold IIs formal relinquishment of personal control over the state to Belgium on 15 November, 1908, to the dawn of Congolese independence on 30 June, 1960. ... NOTE: This article does not refer to the Graham Greene novel The Comedians. The Comedians is a British television show from the 1970s (later reprised in the 1980s) which gave a stage to nightclub and working mens club comedians of the era, including Stan Boardman, Frank Carson, and Bernard... 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1966 calendar). ... A novel by Graham Greene, published in 1973. ... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1973 calendar). ... This article refers to the book by Graham Greene. ... 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1978 calendar). ... For other uses, see London (disambiguation) and Defining London (below). ... Our Man In Havana is a 1958 novel by Graham Greene. ... 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Castro can refer to: A person: Fidel Castro, Controversial leader of Cuba. ...

An early Cold War phenomenon was Ian Fleming's James Bond -- 007. Bond is arguably the most famous fictional spy. Although the author had served in British Naval Intelligence during the war, his world of intelligence was unrealistic. Ian Fleming Commander Ian Lancaster Fleming, RNVR (May 28, 1908 – August 12, 1964) was an English author and journalist, best remembered for writing the James Bond series of novels as well as the childrens story, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. ... The James Bond 007 gun logo James Bond, also known as 007 (pronounced double-oh seven), is a fictional British spy created by writer Ian Fleming in 1953. ... 007 refers to either James Bond or Korean Airlines Flight 007 which was shot down in 1983 over Soviet airspace. ...

Despite Fleming's enormous commercial success, other authors quickly developed heroes with anti-Bond traits. Notable examples are John le Carré and Len Deighton, who modeled their novels on those 1930s authors who were dubious about the morality of espionage. Frederick Forsyth (The Day of the Jackal) and Ken Follett (Eye of the Needle) took a more journalistic approach and were praised for their dramatic use of historical events. Adam Hall, one of the pseudonyms of Trevor Dudley-Smith, created a popular series about British spy Quiller, beginning with The Berlin Memorandum (published in the United States as The Quiller Memorandum) which took a different tack; it was both literary and highly focused on tradecraft. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Len Deighton (left) teaches Michael Caine how to break an egg on the set of The Ipcress File. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Frederick Forsyth Frederick Forsyth (born August 25, 1938) is a British author and occasional political commentator. ... A promotional poster for The Day Of The Jackal The Day of the Jackal is a thriller novel by Frederick Forsyth, first published in 1971, about a professional assassin who is contracted by the OAS, a French terrorist group of the early 1960s, to kill Charles de Gaulle. ... Ken Follett (born June 5, 1949) is a British author of thrillers and historical novels. ... Eye of the Needle is a spy thriller novel written by British author Ken Follett. ... Adam Hall (Born August 14, 1980 in Kalamazoo, MI) is a professional ice hockey player. ...

During this era, American authors for the first time rose to sufficient prominance to break British control of the genre. In 1960, Donald Hamilton, who had served in the OSS in World War II, published the debut novel in his long-running series starring the laconic counterspy/assassin Matt Helm. They inspired a series of popular movies, too, with Dean Martin in the title role. Robert Ludlum's first book, The Scarlatti Inheritance (1971), sold modestly in hardcover but was a bestseller in paperback, launching Ludlum. Generally considered the inventor of the modern spy thriller, Ludlum has been criticized, praised, and widely imitated ever since. Tom Clancy's first novel, The Hunt for Red October (1984), was a publishing sensation much like today's DaVinci Code, and also made into a highly successful movie. Clancy is acknowledged as the creator of the spy-techno thriller. 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1960 calendar). ... Donald Hamilton (born March 24, 1916) is a U.S. writer of novels, short stories, and non-fiction about the outdoors. ... Counterspy is a Antispyware application of Sunbelt Software. ... Jack Ruby murdered the assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, in a very public manner. ... Matt Helm, a fictional character created by author Donald Hamilton, is a U.S. government counteragent—a man whose primary job is to kill or nullify enemy agents—not a spy or secret agent in the ordinary sense of the term as used in spy thrillers. ... For other uses see film (disambiguation) Film refers to the celluliod media on which movies are printed Film — also called movies, the cinema, the silver screen, moving pictures, photoplays, picture shows, flicks, or motion pictures, — is a field that encompasses motion pictures as an art form or as part of... Dean Martin (June 7, 1917 – December 25, 1995) was an Italian-American singer and film actor. ... The Scarlatti Inheritance, Ludlums first book, published 1971. ... HEy does anyone know what his first book is in his series? ... 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1971 calendar). ... A bestseller is a book that is identified as extremely popular by its inclusion on a list of top-sellers. ... Paperback may refer to a kind of book binding by which papers are simply folded without cloth or leather and bound - usually with glue rather than stitches or staples - into a thick paper cover; or to a book with this type of binding. ... Tom Clancy Thomas Leo Clancy Jr. ... Harper Collins 1993 paperback edition The Hunt for Red October, Tom Clancys first novel, was published in 1984. ... 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Da Vinci Code book cover The Da Vinci Code is a novel written by American author Dan Brown and published in 2003 by Random House (ISBN 0385504209). ...

The 1960s saw an explosion of spy films, many based on works of literature. These covered a wide range from the extremely fantastical James Bond films to the grainy realism of The Spy Who Came In from the Cold (based on the Le Carre book) and the cool commercialism of The Quiller Memorandum (based on the Adam Hall book). The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1960 to 1969, inclusive. ... The spy film film genre deals with the subject of fictional espionage, either in a realistic way or as a basis for fantasy. ... Literature is literally acquaintance with letters as in the first sense given in the Oxford English Dictionary (from the Latin littera meaning an individual written character (letter)). The term has generally come to identify a collection of texts, which in Western culture are mainly prose, both fiction and non-fiction... The Spy Who Came in from the Cold is an espionage novel by John le Carré, which tells the story of Alec Lemas, a British spy, who resigns from the Circus (as the British Secret Service is known in John le Carrés books) and defects to East Germany. ...

Spies also were depicted on television, including James Bond in 1954 in an episode of Climax! based on Fleming's Casino Royale. Several series -- including The Man from U.N.C.L.E, Danger Man, and I Spy -- aired in the 1960s. Spies were parodied in Get Smart. Then in the late 1970s and into the 1980s, The Sandbaggers brought a gritty bureaucratic view of espionage operations to the small screen. 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Climax! (a. ... A 2002 Penguin Books paperback edition Casino Royale is the first James Bond novel by author Ian Fleming. ... Rare childrens storybook based upon Left to right: David McCallum, Robert Vaughn, and Leo G. Carroll. ... One of a half-dozen North American DVD releases of the series. ... The I-SPY books were spotters guides written for British children, and particularly successful in the 1950s and 60s. ... Get Smart was an American comedy television series that ran from September 18, 1965 to May 1970, and from January to February 1995. ... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, inclusive. ... The 1980s decade refers to the years from 1980 to 1989, inclusive. ... Roy Marsden as Neil Burnside in The Sandbaggers The Sandbaggers is a British television drama series about men and women on the front lines of the Cold War. ...

After the Cold War

As the Cold War closed, literary novelist Norman Mailer's abiding preoccupation with U.S. espionage inspired him to write Harlot's Ghost, a sprawling 1,300-page work published in 1991, the year that the Soviet Union dissolved. Norman Mailer, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1948 Norman Kingsley Mailer (born January 31, 1923) is an American writer and, along with Truman Capote, is considered an innovator of the nonfictional novel. ... 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

With the fall of the Iron Curtain, the once-Communist East reeled, desperately in need of financial aid from the West as it struggled to adopt democracy. The Soviet Union was gone, and Russia was not easily believable as the arch enemy in contemporary spy tales. Adding to the problem, the very existence of the CIA was in question -- the U.S. Congress seriously discussed disbanding it. Interest in espionage fiction plummeted. Deciding the game was over, The New York Times abandoned its long-running column that reviewed spy thrillers. The final blow came in 1998 when both Le Carre and Forsyth declared the field dead and went off to write other books. Europe at the time of the Iron Curtain The Iron Curtain is a Western term made famous by Winston Churchill referring to the boundary which symbolically, ideologically, and physically divided Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II until the end of the Cold War, roughly... Communism - Wikipedia /**/ @import /w/skins-1. ... Your Grandma. ... The CIA Seal The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is an American intelligence agency, responsible for obtaining and analyzing information about foreign governments, corporations, and individuals, and reporting such information to the various branches of the U.S. Government. ... The Congress of the United States is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States of America. ... The New York Times is a newspaper published in New York City by Arthur O. Sulzberger Jr. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ...

Still, publishers continued to bring out the new work of those authors who had been highly popular during the Cold War, hoping that most of their readership would remain loyal. That proved to be true. Besides the Cold War writers mentioned earlier, those who published successfully during this low point included Nelson DeMille, W.E.B. Griffin, and David Morrell. Nelson Richard DeMille (born 23 August 1943) is an American author. ... W.E.B. Griffin (born William Edmund Butterworth III on November 10, 1929) is a writer of military and detective fiction with some thirty novels in five series published under that name. ... David Morrell David Morrell is the award-winning author of First Blood, the novel in which Rambo was created. ...

At the same time, editors were naturally leery of gambling on brand-new authors. Only a handful of novelists ultimately were deemed to have written work strong or original enough to be published in hardcover. Among those were Joseph Finder, Moscow Club (1995), Gayle Lynds, Masquerade, (1996), and Daniel Silva, The Unlikely Spy (1996). They were rarities, whose best-selling espionage stories about the new post-Cold War world helped to keep the form alive. The Editors (never just Editors) are a British indie rock band from Birmingham, England, who met at Staffordshire University , comprised of Tom Smith (lyricist/vocalist/guitarist), Chris Urbanowicz (guitarist), Russ Leetch (bass guitarist) and Ed Lay (drummer). ... A hardcover (or hardback or hardbound) book is bound with rigid protective covers (typically of cardboard covered with cloth or heavy paper) and a stitched spine. ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Gayle Lynds is the author of The Coil, Masquerade, Mosaic, and Mesmerized, and co-creator with Robert Ludlum of the Covert-One series. ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... Author Daniel Silva writes thriller/espionage novels and lives in Georgetown in Washington, D.C. with his wife and children. ...

The decade of the spy

Finally, the political tide turned again. The tragic events of 9/11 and the aftermath of continued terrorist attacks reawakened readers' hunger for information about the world at large. Fiction has always been a favored lens through which readers not only entertained but educated themselves. Quickly a demand for spy thrillers arose, a demand that has only grown, reflecting the widespread attention paid by the public to real-life intelligence matters not only in their own country but internationally. A huge plume of smoke and fire can be seen emerging from the North Tower. ... It has been suggested that Terrorist be merged into this article or section. ...

Le Carre and Forsyth returned to the field with new books. Editors actively sought out espionage novels and continue to do so. Today a host of new writers across Europe and the United States publish in the field. In the United States, the New York Times bestseller list is often dominated by thrillers. Finally, in 2004, the first international organization for professional thriller authors was formed -- International Thriller Writers. In 2007, the first spy theme park -- Spyland -- is scheduled to open near Lyons, France. World map showing Europe Europe is conventionally considered one of the seven continents of Earth which, in this case, is more a cultural and political distinction than a physiogeographic one. ... It has been designated the: International Year of Rice (by the United Nations) International Year to Commemorate the Struggle against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO) 2004 World Health Day topic was Road Safety (by World Health Organization) Year of the Monkey (by the Chinese calendar) See the world in... International Thriller Writers, Inc. ... 2007 (MMVII) will be a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... City motto: Avant, avant, Lion le melhor. ...

There have been so many spy movies recently that they seem to be taking over theaters while producing steady streams of profit and popular interest -- Match Point, Syriana, The Constant Gardener (based on a recent Le Carre novel), Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and Munich, to name a few. Match Point is a 2005 film written and directed by Woody Allen and starring Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Scarlett Johansson, Emily Mortimer, and Matthew Goode. ... Syriana is a 2005 Academy Award-winning geopolitical thriller film written and directed by Stephen Gaghan. ... The Constant Gardener is a 2005 film based on the novel of the same title by John le Carré. It tells the story of Justin Quayle, who finds his wife murdered and seeks to uncover the reasons behind her death. ... Mr. ... Munich is an Academy Award-nominated 2005 film directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Tony Kushner and Eric Roth. ...

There have been many new TV espionage series. Some, like Alias and 24, have become almost iconic. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... 24 (Twenty Four) is a current U.S. television action/drama/thriller series, produced by the Fox Network for Ron Howards Imagine Television and syndicated worldwide. ...

Spy fiction has also taken off in a brand-new direction with the arrival of digital gaming. Players can become a spy and infiltrate enemy territory without being detected. The Metal Gear and Splinter Cell series pioneered the concept of infiltration and secrecy in computer gaming (as opposed to the standard first-person shooter genre). The games feature complex conspiracy/espionage storylines and cinematic presentation that rival most espionage-based motion pictures. For the video game for the PlayStation 2, see Spy Fiction (video game). The Metal Gear Solid logo. ... The latest game in the series, Chaos Theory was released in 2005 Splinter Cell is a series of video games and novels created by American author Tom Clancy. ... Doom, one of the games that defined the first-person shooter genre. ...

At fan gatherings, writers' conferences, publishers' meetings, and in the Intelligence Community itself -- analysts, spymasters, and covert operators read the genre for entertainment and to pick up ideas -- memories of the field's near death after the Cold War are painfully fresh. But since terrorism and world unrest are not expected to end soon, the need for intelligence gathering, counterespionage, and counter-terrorism are not expected to end soon either. The future of the spy thriller is bright. The Intelligence Community of the United States is an organization of several executive branch agencies within the federal government that are responsible for foreign and domestic intelligence, military planning, and espionage. ... It has been suggested that Terrorist be merged into this article or section. ... Counter Intelligence A uk label started and owned by John Machielsen. ... Counter-terrorism refers to the practices, tactics, and strategies that governments, militaries, and other groups adopt in order to fight terrorism. ...

References

• Aronoff, Myron J. The Spy Novels of John Le Carré: Balancing Ethics and Politics (1999).
• Cawelti, John G. The Spy Story (1987)
• Priestman, Martin, ed. The Cambridge Companion to Crime Fiction (2003).

Prominent writers of spy fiction

• Eric Ambler
• Raymond Benson
• John Buchan
• John le Carré
• James Hadley Chase
• Robert Erskine Childers
• Tom Clancy
• Manning Coles
• Desmond Cory
• Len Deighton
• Paul Eddy
• Joseph Finder
• Ian Fleming
• Vince Flynn
• Ken Follett
• Frederick Forsyth
• John Gardner
• Michael Gilbert
• Graham Greene
• Jan Guillou
• Adam Hall
• Donald Hamilton
• Robert Harris
• Raelynn Hillhouse
• Anthony Horowitz
• Robert Ludlum
• Gayle Lynds
• Helen MacInnes
• Ian Mackintosh
• Norman Mailer
• Somerset Maugham
• Charles McCarry
• Andy McNab
• David Morrell
• James Munro
• Manning O'Brine
• E. Phillips Oppenheim
• Baroness Orczy
• William le Queux
• Daniel Silva
• Desmond Skirrow
• Ross Thomas
• Dennis Wheatley

Eric Ambler (28 June 1909 - 22 October 1998) was an influential English writer who essentially invented the modern spy novel. ... Raymond Benson, born September 6, 1955, is an American author best known for being the most recent author of the official James Bond novels. ... John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir (August 26, 1875 - February 11, 1940), was a Scottish novelist and politician who served as Governor General of Canada. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... James Hadley Chase a pseudonym for British author Rene Brabazon Raymond (1906 – 1985). ... Robert Erskine Childers Robert Erskine Childers (June 25, 1870 - November 24, 1922) was an author and Irish nationalist who was executed by the authorities of the newly independent Irish Free State during the Irish Civil War. ... Tom Clancy Thomas Leo Clancy Jr. ... Manning Coles is the pseudonym of two British writers, Adelaide Frances Oke Manning (1891-1959) and Cyril Henry Coles (1899-1965), who wrote many spy thrillers from the early 40s through the early 60s. ... Desmond Cory is a pseudonym used by British mystery and thriller writer Shaun Lloyd McCarthy between 1951 and 1991. ... Len Deighton (left) teaches Michael Caine how to break an egg on the set of The Ipcress File. ... Ian Fleming Commander Ian Lancaster Fleming, RNVR (May 28, 1908 – August 12, 1964) was an English author and journalist, best remembered for writing the James Bond series of novels as well as the childrens story, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. ... Vince Flynn is a best-selling American author of political thriller novels. ... Ken Follett (born June 5, 1949) is a British author of thrillers and historical novels. ... Frederick Forsyth Frederick Forsyth (born August 25, 1938) is a British author and occasional political commentator. ... This article concerns the British author of spy thrillers John Gardner. ... Michael Francis Gilbert, born in 1912, is a British writer of both fictional mysteries and thrillers who writes as Michael Gilbert. ... This article is about the writer Graham Greene. ... Jan Guillou Jan Oscar Sverre Lucien Henri Guillou (pron. ... Elleston Trevor was the pseudonym, and eventually legal name, of the British novelist Trevor Dudley-Smith (February 17, 1920 – 1995), who also wrote as Adam Hall and Simon Rattray, among other names. ... Donald Hamilton (born March 24, 1916) is a U.S. writer of novels, short stories, and non-fiction about the outdoors. ... Robert Harris is an English TV reporter and author, born in 1957 in the city of Nottingham. ... Raelynn Hillhouse Raelynn Hillhouse is an American novelist, expert on Central and Eastern Europe and former smuggler. ... Anthony Horowitz (born April 5, 1955) is a British author and television scriptwriter. ... The Scarlatti Inheritance, Ludlums first book, published 1971. ... Gayle Lynds is the author of The Coil, Masquerade, Mosaic, and Mesmerized, and co-creator with Robert Ludlum of the Covert-One series. ... Helen MacInnes (born October 7, 1907 in Glasgow, Scotland; died September 30, 1985 in New York, New York) was an Scottish author of espionage novels. ... Ian Mackintosh Ian Mackintosh, MBE, (born July 26, 1940; disappeared and presumed dead July 1979) was a Scottish naval officer, a writer of thriller novels, and a screenwriter for British television. ... Norman Mailer, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1948 Norman Kingsley Mailer (born January 31, 1923) is an American writer and, along with Truman Capote, is considered an innovator of the nonfictional novel. ... W. Somerset Maugham as photographed in 1934 by Carl Van Vechten. ... Charles McCarry is a novelist whose works often concern secret history, bankers, the CIA, post-war Germany, and Richard Nixon. ... Andy McNab (born December 28, 1959) is a British former soldier turned novelist. ... David Morrell David Morrell is the award-winning author of First Blood, the novel in which Rambo was created. ... For the recipient of the Victoria Cross see James Munro (VC) James Munro was the pseudonym of a British writer named James William Mitchell (born 1926) who, in the late 1960s, wrote four superior spy thrillers under this byline. ... Manning OBrine, born 1915 is an Irish thriller writer and television screenplay writer. ... Cover of Time Magazine (September 12, 1927) Edward Phillips Oppenheim (1866–1946) was an English novelist, a major and successful writer of genre fiction including thrillers. ... Baroness Emma(Emmuska) Orczy (September 23, 1865 – November 12, 1947) was a British novelist, playwright and artist of Hungarian origin. ... William Tufnell Le Queux (1864 - 1927) was a British journalist and writer. ... Author Daniel Silva writes thriller/espionage novels and lives in Georgetown in Washington, D.C. with his wife and children. ... Desmond Skirrow was a British advertising executive and writer of thrillers. ... Ross Thomas (born February 19, 1926 in Oklahoma City, USA, died December 18, 1995 in Santa Monica, USA) was a mystery writer. ... Dennis Wheatley (8 January 1897-10 November 1977) was a British writer born in London. ...

See also

• Espionage
• SpyFi
• Spy film
• List of fictional secret agents
• Thriller fiction
• Thriller Film
• List of thriller authors

To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... SpyFi is a genre of spy fiction that includes elements of science fiction. ... The spy film film genre deals with the subject of fictional espionage, either in a realistic way or as a basis for fantasy. ... This is a list of fictional secret agents. ... Thriller fiction, sometimes called suspense fiction, is a genre of literature that typically entails fast-paced plots, numerous action scenes, and limited character development. ... Thriller films are movies that primarily use action and suspense to engage the audience. ... This is a list of thriller or suspense novelists. ...

External links

• International Thriller Writers, Inc. The official website for the first international organization for professional thriller authors.

• [Spyland The official website for the world's first espionage theme park, Spyland, scheduled to open in 2007.