Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang: The Boom in British Thrillers from Casino Royale to The Eagle Has Landed. Mike Ripley

      

      

       Copyright

      Published by COLLINS CRIME CLUB

      An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

      1 London Bridge Street

      London SE1 9GF

       www.harpercollins.co.uk

      First published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2017

      Copyright © Mike Ripley 2017

      Foreword © Lee Child 2017

      Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2017

      Cover illustration: detail from When Eight Bells Toll by Alistair MacLean © HarperCollinsPublishers 1981 (front); Robert Kyle’s Kill Now, Pay Later by Robert McGinnis © Dell Publishing/Penguin Random House 1960 (back).

      Author photograph © Mike Ripley

      Mike Ripley asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

      Every effort has been made to trace copyright holders and to obtain their permission for the use of copyright material. The publisher apologizes for any errors or omissions on the above list and would be grateful if notified of any corrections that should be incorporated in future reprints or editions of this book.

      A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

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      Source ISBN: 9780008172237

      Ebook Edition © May 2017 ISBN: 9780008172244

      Version: 2017-11-20

       Dedication

      For Len Deighton,

      who has a lot to answer for.

       SPOILER ALERT

      There will be spoilers. Live with it. Many of the thrillers referred to here were published fifty years ago. You’ve had time.

       THRILLERS

      ‘A book, film, or play depicting crime, mystery, or espionage in an atmosphere of excitement and suspense.’

      Collins English Dictionary

      ‘What exactly is a thriller? The term seems to cover a multitude of sins and quite a fair proportion of virtues.’

      Margery Allingham, 1931

      ‘You after all write “novels of suspense” – if not sociological studies – whereas my books are straight pillow fantasies of the bang-bang, kiss-kiss variety.’

       Ian Fleming in a letter to Raymond Chandler, 1956

      Contents

       Cover

       Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Spoiler Alert

       Thrillers

Foreword

Preface

Chapter 1: A Question of Emphasis

Chapter 2: The Land Before Bond

Chapter 3: Do Mention the War

Chapter 4: Tinkers, Tailors, Soldiers, Spies. But Mostly Journalists.

Chapter 5: End of Empire

Chapter 6: Travel Broadening the Mind

       Chapter 7: Class of ’62

       Chapter 8: The Spies Have It, 1963–70

       Chapter 9: The Adventurers, 1963–70

       Chapter 10: The Storm Jackal Has Landed – The 1970s

       Chapter 11: The New Intake

       Chapter 12: Endgame

       Appendix I: The Leading Players

       Appendix II: The Supporting Cast

       Notes & References

       Acknowledgements & Bibliography

       Index

       Also by Mike Ripley

       About the Publisher