The British Spy Novel Styles in Treachery

"Erskine Childers' 1903 novel The Riddle of the Sands was the start of a new genre, spy fiction. Since then it has been dominated by writers such as John Buchan, Ian Fleming, John Le Carré and Len Deighton. John Atkins examines the subject of spy fiction and the authors who wrote it, many of whom have worked directly for the British Secret Service. Often life turns out to be more incredible than fiction, and this is especially true of a form of literature which must be authentic to life and credible to the reader." --