James Bond's Socialist Rivals: Television Spy Heroes and Popular Culture in the Cold War East

In August 1973, the large and growing television audience of the Soviet Union first laid eyes on what would become its quintessential if fictitious hero spy. He was nothing liketo global fame in the 1960s. By contrast, Shtirlits made his middle-aged man on a meditative stroll in wintry woods,to the score of a very slow piano rendition of the show'swistful signature theme.

The Cold War East, the Soviet Union and its sphere of domination and influence in Eastern Europe, produced a rich array ...