British Writers and MI5 Surveillance, 1930-1960
Britain's domestic intelligence agencies maintained secret records on many left-wing writers after the First World War. Drawing on recently declassified material from 1930 to 1960, this revealing study examines how leading figures in Britain's literary scene fell under MI5 and Special Branch surveillance, and the surprising extent to which writers became willing participants in the world of covert intelligence and propaganda. Chapters devoted to W. H. Auden and his associates, theatre pioneers Ewan MacColl and Joan Littlewood, George Orwell, and others describe methods used by MI5 to gather information through and about the cultural world. The book also investigates how these covert agencies assessed the political influence of such writers, providing scholars and students of twentieth-century British literature an unprecedented account of clandestine operations in popular culture.
1112424017
British Writers and MI5 Surveillance, 1930-1960
Britain's domestic intelligence agencies maintained secret records on many left-wing writers after the First World War. Drawing on recently declassified material from 1930 to 1960, this revealing study examines how leading figures in Britain's literary scene fell under MI5 and Special Branch surveillance, and the surprising extent to which writers became willing participants in the world of covert intelligence and propaganda. Chapters devoted to W. H. Auden and his associates, theatre pioneers Ewan MacColl and Joan Littlewood, George Orwell, and others describe methods used by MI5 to gather information through and about the cultural world. The book also investigates how these covert agencies assessed the political influence of such writers, providing scholars and students of twentieth-century British literature an unprecedented account of clandestine operations in popular culture.
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British Writers and MI5 Surveillance, 1930-1960

British Writers and MI5 Surveillance, 1930-1960

by James Smith
British Writers and MI5 Surveillance, 1930-1960

British Writers and MI5 Surveillance, 1930-1960

by James Smith

Hardcover

$120.00 
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Overview

Britain's domestic intelligence agencies maintained secret records on many left-wing writers after the First World War. Drawing on recently declassified material from 1930 to 1960, this revealing study examines how leading figures in Britain's literary scene fell under MI5 and Special Branch surveillance, and the surprising extent to which writers became willing participants in the world of covert intelligence and propaganda. Chapters devoted to W. H. Auden and his associates, theatre pioneers Ewan MacColl and Joan Littlewood, George Orwell, and others describe methods used by MI5 to gather information through and about the cultural world. The book also investigates how these covert agencies assessed the political influence of such writers, providing scholars and students of twentieth-century British literature an unprecedented account of clandestine operations in popular culture.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781107030824
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Publication date: 12/17/2012
Pages: 228
Product dimensions: 5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.67(d)

About the Author

James Smith is Lecturer in English Literature at Durham University. Author of a critical study on the work of Terry Eagleton (2008), he has published widely in journals such as New Theatre Quarterly and Literature and History. He received his PhD from the University of Cambridge in 2007.

Table of Contents

Abbreviations; Preface; 1. Intellectual and intelligence contexts, 1930–60; 2. The Auden circle; 3. Ewan MacColl, Joan Littlewood, and Theatre Workshop; 4. Arthur Koestler and George Orwell; Epilogue; Notes.
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