This collection of essays is an attempt to explore the history of spy fiction and spy films and investigate the significance of the ideas they contain.

Introduction, Wesley K. Wark; Chapter 1 Secret Negotiations, Christine Bold; Chapter 2 The Politics of Adventure in the Early British Spy Novel, David Trotter; Chapter 3 Decoding German Spies, Nicholas Hiley; Chapter 4 English Spy Thrillers in the Age of Appeasement, Eric Homberger; Chapter 5 Ireland in Spy Fiction, Keith Jeffery, Eunan O'Halpin; Chapter 6 Our Man in Havana, Their Man in Madrid, Denis Smyth; Chapter 7 The Development of the Espionage Film, Alan R. Booth; Chapter 8 Ethics and Spy Fiction, J.J. Macintosh; Chapter 9 Spy Fiction and Terrorism, Philip Jenkins; Chapter 10 Why I Write Spy Fiction, John Starnes; Chapter 11 Critical Afterthoughts and Alternative Historico-Literary Theories, D. Cameron Watt;