‘Red Snow on Their Boots: Russian characters in spy thriller fiction published during the two World Wars': 1-10

Abstract

When we think of spy thriller fiction, and especially of spy thriller fiction written at any time during the Cold War, we think of Soviet or Russian villains. Russian or Soviet characters, some portrayed as heroic and some as evil, were also prominent in spy thriller fiction before and after both the World Wars. By contrast, there were few English-language spy thrillers with Russian or Soviet characters written between 1914 and 1918, and between 1939 and 1945. Thriller writers always react quickly to current events and Russia was enormously popular in Britain when it was an ally during the two wars, so why were Russians in wartime spy fiction few and far between? What were the factors in both time periods which help explain this? Was it because of the political backgrounds of the times, or were there other, more practical, explanations?