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.

Crime movies inhabit dark and desperate worlds, yet they account for many of Hollywood's most triumphant successes. In full acknowledgement of this achievement, "Crime Wave" offers an authoritative and informative, stimulating and entertaining guide to the crime movie phenomenon, from its early days to the present, charting its history and celebrating the people who have given it a special and enduring place in cinema goers' affections. Chapters focus on landmark Hollywood films - from 1931's "The Public Enemy", through "The Maltese Falcon", "Point Blank", "Dirty Harry", "The Godfather" trilogy and "Goodfellas", to "LA Confidential" and "Oceans 11" - telling their stories and on the way discussing many more crime movies, both major and lesser known. "Crime Wave" represents and investigates gangster and heist movies, blaxploitation and noir, murder mysteries, vehicles for vigilante or buddy cops, even a gangster love story. It features biographies and filmographies detailing the key participants and background details of the film's making, locations and sets. It also explores each film's sources and influences, its impact on the crime genre and current fashion, including spin-offs, copies and sequels. It examines the films' themes, style and box office fortunes. Detailed cast list information is provided for each of the main featured films. Written with passion, for those who love this cinema, "Crime Wave" is the perfect partner in crime.

Since its inception, 007 has captured the hearts of a worldwide audience, and the franchise is now available over multiple media platforms, including movie, comic strips, games, graphic novels and fashion statements. This edited collection examines the role that gender has played across the platforms that the James Bond franchise now occupies.

Ian Lancaster Fleming was a British writer who is best known for his postwar James Bond series of spy novels. While working for Britain's Naval Intelligence Division during the Second World War, Fleming was involved in planning Operation Goldeneye and in the planning and oversight of two intelligence units, 30 Assault Unit and T-Force. He drew from his wartime service and his career as a journalist for much of the background, detail, and depth of his James Bond novels. The Bond books were written in post-war Britain, when the country was still an imperial power. As the series progressed, the British Empire was in decline; journalist William Cook observed that "Bond pandered to Britain's inflated and increasingly insecure self-image, flattering us with the fantasy that Britannia could still punch above her weight." The books should be read in publication order. The exception is book 10 - The Spy Who Loved Me which is best read out of sequence, earlier or later in the series, so as not to break up the main sequence of 9 - Thunderball, 11 - On Her Majesty's Secret Service, 12 - You Only Live Twice, and 13 - The Man With the Golden Gun which MUST be read in that order. 2 - Live and Let Die must be read before 6 - Doctor No. Casino Royale Live and Let Die Moonraker Diamonds Are Forever From Russia, with Love Dr. No Goldfinger Thunderball The Spy Who Loved Me On Her Majesty's Secret Service You Only Live Twice The Man with the Golden Gun For Your Eyes Only Octopussy and The Living Daylights

Bond. James Bond. The ultimate British hero--suave, stoic, gadget-driven--was, more than anything, the necessary invention of a traumatized country whose self-image as a great power had just been shattered by the Second World War. By inventing the parallel world of secret British greatness and glamour, Ian Fleming fabricated an icon that has endured long past its maker's death. In The Man Who Saved Britain, Simon Winder lovingly and ruefully re-creates the nadirs of his own fandom while illuminating what Bond says about sex, the monarchy, food, class, attitudes toward America, and everything in between. The result is an insightful and, above all, entertaining exploration of postwar Britain under the influence of the legendary Agent 007.