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

Author:   Mike Ripley
Publisher:   HarperCollins Publishers
ISBN:  

9780008172251


Pages:   464
Publication Date:   21 March 2019
Format:   Paperback
Availability:   To order   Availability explained
Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us.

Our Price $22.99 Quantity:  
Add to Cart

Share |

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


Add your own review!

Overview

WINNER OF THE HRF KEATING AWARD FOR BEST NON-FICTION CRIME BOOK 2018 An entertaining history of British thrillers from Casino Royale to The Eagle Has Landed, in which award-winning crime writer Mike Ripley reveals that, though Britain may have lost an empire, her thrillers helped save the world. With a foreword by Lee Child. When Ian Fleming dismissed his books in a 1956 letter to Raymond Chandler as ‘straight pillow fantasies of the bang-bang, kiss-kiss variety’ he was being typically immodest. In three short years, his James Bond novels were already spearheading a boom in thriller fiction that would dominate the bestseller lists, not just in Britain, but internationally. The decade following World War II had seen Britain lose an Empire, demoted in terms of global power and status and economically crippled by debt; yet its fictional spies, secret agents, soldiers, sailors and even (occasionally) journalists were now saving the world on a regular basis. From Ian Fleming and Alistair MacLean in the 1950s through Desmond Bagley, Dick Francis, Len Deighton and John Le Carré in the 1960s, to Frederick Forsyth and Jack Higgins in the 1970s. Many have been labelled ‘boys’ books’ written by men who probably never grew up but, as award-winning writer and critic Mike Ripley recounts, the thrillers of this period provided the reader with thrills, adventure and escapism, usually in exotic settings, or as today’s leading thriller writer Lee Child puts it in his Foreword: ‘the thrill of immersion in a fast and gaudy world.’ In Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, Ripley examines the rise of the thriller from the austere 1950s through the boom time of the Swinging Sixties and early 1970s, examining some 150 British authors (plus a few notable South Africans). Drawing upon conversations with many of the authors mentioned in the book, he shows how British writers, working very much in the shadow of World War II, came to dominate the field of adventure thrillers and the two types of spy story – spy fantasy (as epitomised by Ian Fleming’s James Bond) and the more realistic spy fiction created by Deighton, Le Carré and Ted Allbeury, plus the many variations (and imitators) in between.

Full Product Details

Author:   Mike Ripley
Publisher:   HarperCollins Publishers
Imprint:   HarperCollins
Dimensions:   Width: 12.90cm , Height: 2.90cm , Length: 19.80cm
Weight:   0.330kg
ISBN:  

9780008172251


ISBN 10:   0008172250
Pages:   464
Publication Date:   21 March 2019
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   To order   Availability explained
Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us.

Table of Contents

Reviews

`As gripping and well-researched as any of the thrillers he discusses, Mike Ripley's book also provides a fascinating social history of post-war Britain. A reminder of the relevance of this unfairly maligned genre. Check the room for bugs, settle down, and dive in.' Ian Rankin `Witty and authoritative' Andrew Taylor, SPECTATOR `A blissfully enjoyable study of the golden age of the British thriller' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH `Highly entertaining ... this informative book should send readers back to the thrillers of yesteryear' THE TIMES `Ripley writes with breezy, infectious enthusiasm... Above all, though, Ripley conveys something of why these books are exciting.' WASHINGTON POST


‘As gripping and well-researched as any of the thrillers he discusses, Mike Ripley's book also provides a fascinating social history of post-war Britain. A reminder of the relevance of this unfairly maligned genre. Check the room for bugs, settle down, and dive in.’ Ian Rankin ‘Witty and authoritative’ Andrew Taylor, SPECTATOR ‘A blissfully enjoyable study of the golden age of the British thriller’ SUNDAY TELEGRAPH ‘Highly entertaining … this informative book should send readers back to the thrillers of yesteryear’ THE TIMES ‘Ripley writes with breezy, infectious enthusiasm… Above all, though, Ripley conveys something of why these books are exciting.’ WASHINGTON POST


'As gripping and well-researched as any of the thrillers he discusses, Mike Ripley's book also provides a fascinating social history of post-war Britain. A reminder of the relevance of this unfairly maligned genre. Check the room for bugs, settle down, and dive in.' Ian Rankin 'Witty and authoritative' Andrew Taylor, SPECTATOR 'A blissfully enjoyable study of the golden age of the British thriller' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH 'Highly entertaining ... this informative book should send readers back to the thrillers of yesteryear' THE TIMES 'Ripley writes with breezy, infectious enthusiasm... Above all, though, Ripley conveys something of why these books are exciting.' WASHINGTON POST


Author Information

Mike Ripley was born in 1952. As well as being a noted critic and Lecturer in Crime Writing, he is the author of the ‘Angel’ series of crime novels, for which he has twice been the recipient of a Crime Writers’ Association Award. Working with the Margery Allingham Society, he completed the Albert Campion novel left unfinished, Mr Campion’s Farewell, and has written further continuation novels in the series.

Tab Content 6

Author Website:  

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

No review item found!

Add your own review!

Countries Available

All regions
Latest Reading Guide

ls

Shopping Cart
Your cart is empty
Shopping cart
Mailing List