Praeger Publishers – October 30, 2006

What is Onscreen and Undercover?

Wes Britton's Spy Television (Praeger Publishers, 2004) was just that – an overview of espionage on the small screen from 1951 to 2002.  His Beyond Bond:  Spies in Fiction and Film (Praeger Publishers, 2005) wove spy literature, movies, radio, comics, and other popular media together with what the public knew about actual espionage to show the inter-relationships between genres and approaches in the past century.

Onscreen and Undercover, the final book intended in Dr. Britton's "Spy Trilogy," provides a history of spies on the large screen, with an emphasis on the stories these films present.  Since the days of silent documentary shorts, spying has been a staple of the movie business.  It has been the subject of thrillers, melodramas, political films, romances, and endless parodies as well.  But despite the developing mistrust of the spy as a figure of hope and good works, the variable relationship between real spying and screen spying over the past 100 years sheds a curious light on just how we live, what we fear, who we admire, and what we want our culture – and our world – to become.

This book describes now-forgotten trends, traces surprising themes, and spotlights the major contributions of directors, actors, and other American and English artists.

What's in Onscreen and Undercover?

How to Get Onscreen and Undercover:

Onscreen and Undercover: The Ultimate Book of Movie Espionage is available in bookstores everywhere, as well as these on-line merchants: