The author has chosen seventeen of the most important or representative British spy novelists to write about. He presents some basic literary analysis and criticism, trying both to place them in historical perspective and to describe and analyze the content and form of their fiction.

Illuminating a powerful intersection between popular culture and global politics, Spies and Holy Wars draws on a sampling of more than eight hundred British and American thrillers that are propelled by the theme of jihad—an Islamic holy war or crusade against the West. Published over the past century, the books in this expansive study encompass spy novels and crime fiction, illustrating new connections between these genres and Western imperialism. Demonstrating the social implications of the popularity of such books, Reeva Spector Simon covers how the Middle Eastern villain evolved from being the malleable victim before World War II to the international, techno-savvy figure in today's crime novels. She explores the impact of James Bond, pulp fiction, and comic books and also analyzes the ways in which world events shaped the genre, particularly in recent years. Worldwide terrorism and economic domination prevail as the most common sources of narrative tension in these works, while military "tech novels" restored the prestige of the American hero in the wake of post-Vietnam skepticism. Moving beyond stereotypes, Simon examines the relationships between publishing trends, political trends, and popular culture at large—giving voice to the previously unexamined truths that emerge from these provocative page-turners.

A guide to series fiction lists popular series, identifies novels by character, and offers guidance on the order in which to read unnumbered series.

***Now a motion picture, out 5th March 2018*** In different parts of London, three recruits prepare for their first day at the Metropolitan Police's training centre at Hendon. All three had succeeded in getting into the police in spite of weaknesses. But on their first day, the assistant commissioner announces that he wants them to join a team of undercover detectives. Their brief? To become criminals; to work their way up through whatever criminal organisations they can get access to, and to collate evidence against the criminals they come across. Their target? One of the world's biggest drug dealers, Den Donovan, alias 'Tango One' - number one on HM Customs and Excise's List of most wanted criminals. Three years later all the recruits are getting close to their target. Too close, perhaps, to remember the rules . . . *********** Praise for Stephen Leather '[Leather] has the uncanny knack of producing plots that are all too real' Daily Mail 'Let Spider draw you into his web, you won't regret it' - Sun

Write in Style is aimed at all for whom clarity and accuracy of expression are important skills. All the main styles and grammaticalrules are covered, their sense axplained and vivid examples given of how not to write. Plenty of sound and meticulous advice is offered in a friendly and enthusiastic toneand a large part of the book covers specific types of writing, from essays and articles to minutes and reportage. The many illustrations, examples and exercises throughout help the reader put into practice the techniques and skillds the book explores.

Using a wide range of twentieth-century literary prose Laura Wright and Jonathan Hope provide an `interactive' introduction to the techniques of stylistic analysis. Divided up into five sections; the noun phrase, the verb phrase, the clause, text structure and vocabulary, the book also provides an introduction to the basics of descriptive grammar for beginning students. * Presumes no prior linguistic knowledge * Provides a comprehensive glossary of terms * Adaptable: designed to be used in a variety of classroom contexts * Introduces students to an enormous range of 20th century literature from James Joyce to Roddy Doyle A practical coursebook rather than a survey account of stylistics as a discipline, the book provides over forty opportunities for hands-on stylistic analysis. For each linguistic feature under discussion the reader is offered a definition, a text for analysis, exercises and tasks, in addition to a suggested solution. Stylistics: A Practical Coursebook is genuinely `student friendly' and will be an invaluable tool for all beginning undergraduates and A-level students of language and literature.