John le Carré and the Cold War

Dr Toby Manning (Autor)

Buch | Softcover

256 Seiten

2019
Bloomsbury Academic (Verlag)
978-1-350-12216-1 (ISBN)

Artikel merken

John le Carré and the Cold War explores the historical contexts and political implications of le Carré’s major Cold-War novels. The first in-depth study of le Carré this century, this book analyses his work in light of key topics in 20th-century history, including containment of Communism, decolonization, the Berlin Wall, the Cuban missile crisis, the Cambridge spy-ring, the Vietnam War, the 70s oil crisis and Thatcherism.

Examining The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1963), Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (1974), Smiley’s People (1979) and other novels, this book offers an illuminating picture of Cold-War Britain, while situating le Carré’s work alongside that of George Orwell, Graham Greene and Ian Fleming. Providing a valuable contribution to contemporary understandings of both British spy fiction and post-war fiction, Toby Manning challenges the critical consensus to reveal a considerably less radical writer than is conventionally presented.

Toby Manning has taught at Queen Mary University, Brunel University and the University of Birmingham, UK. A former journalist, he is also the author of The Rough Guide to Pink Floyd (2006).

Dedication
Acknowledgements

Introduction: ‘A Nation’s Political Health’

The enemy
The state
The nation
Cold-War consensus to critical consensus

Chapter 1. 'Murderers and Spies': The Communist Threat and Call for the Dead
‘Mass philosophy’: The Cold-War enemy
'A symbol of nothing at all': The British state
‘Deep love of England’: Imagining the nation
‘Who was then the gentleman?’: Nation, state and enemy

Chapter 2. ‘Breeze Blocks and Barbed Wire’: The Berlin Wall and The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
'Party Terms': The communist enemy
‘Not quite a gentleman’: Leamas and the classless British nation
'We are defensive': English empiricism, ideology and the British state

Chapter 3. ‘Looking at His Own Reflection’: The Establishment and The Looking Glass War
'A sort of Cuba situation': Reflections of the enemy
'Government hirings': The Department, the Circus and the British state
‘The mystery of England’: The nation and class

Chapter 4. ‘Holding the World Together’: The Cambridge Spies and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
‘The imminent collapse of the nation’: England and the establishment
‘Russians taken over the government’: The infiltrated British state
‘Fanaticism’ and ‘mindless treason’: Enemy characterization
‘Haydon’s crooked deathmask’: State, nation and enemy

Chapter 5. ‘All One Vanishing World’: The Honourable Schoolboy, Colonialism and Communism
‘Her colonial grip’: Britain, the Empire and the special relationship
‘A spreading plague’: Communism and Southeast Asia

Chapter 6. 'Only People': Humanism, Populism, the Second Cold War and Smiley’s People
'Deniable blessing': Smiley and the British state
'British to the core': Smiley's tour of the nation
'The danger is absolute”: Karla and communism
'Half-angels' and 'half-devils': Smiley, Karla and the Cold War

Conclusion: ‘Man, Not the Mass’
The enemy
The state
The nation

Appendix I: Plot Synopses
Bibliography
Index

Erscheinungsdatum	28.12.2018
Verlagsort	London
Sprache	englisch
Maße	154 x 232 mm
Gewicht	400 g
Themenwelt	Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte ► Zeitgeschichte
	Geisteswissenschaften ► Sprach- / Literaturwissenschaft ► Anglistik / Amerikanistik
	Geisteswissenschaften ► Sprach- / Literaturwissenschaft ► Literaturwissenschaft
ISBN-10	1-350-12216-5 / 1350122165
ISBN-13	978-1-350-12216-1 / 9781350122161
Zustand	Neuware