Editing Spy fiction (section)

===Inter-war period===
After the [[Russian Revolution (1917)]], the quality of spy fiction declined, perhaps because the [[Bolshevik]] enemy won the [[Russian Civil War]] (1917–23). Thus, the inter-war spy story usually concerns combating the Red Menace, which was perceived as another "clash of civilizations".

Spy fiction was dominated by British authors during this period, initially former [[intelligence officer]]s and agents writing from inside the trade. Examples include ''[[Ashenden: Or the British Agent]]'' (1928) by [[W. Somerset Maugham]], which accurately portrays spying in the First World War, and ''The Mystery of Tunnel 51'' (1928) by [[Alexander Wilson (writer and spy)|Alexander Wilson]] whose novels convey an uncanny portrait of the first head of the [[Secret Intelligence Service]], [[Mansfield Smith-Cumming]], the original 'C'.

In the book ''Literary Agents'' (1987), Anthony Masters wrote: "Ashenden's adventures come nearest to the real-life experiences of his creator"'.{{sfn|Polmar|Allen|1998|p=336}} John Le Carré described Ashenden stories as a major influence on his novels as praised Maugham as "the first person to write anything about espionage in a mood of disenchantment and almost prosaic reality".{{sfn|Polmar|Allen|1998|p=336}}

At a more popular level, [[Leslie Charteris]]' popular and long-running ''Saint'' series began, featuring Simon Templar, with ''[[Meet the Tiger]]'' (1928). ''[[Water on the Brain]]'' (1933) by former intelligence officer [[Compton Mackenzie]] was the first successful spy novel [[satire]].<ref>[http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/m/compton-mackenzie/water-on-brain.htm "	Water On the Brain"]. Fantastic Fiction. Retrieved 24 January 2014.</ref> Prolific author [[Dennis Wheatley]] also wrote his first spy novel, ''[[The Eunuch of Stamboul]]'' (1935) during this period.

In the sham state of [[Manchukuo]], spies often featured in stories published in its government-sponsored magazines as villains threatening Manchukuo.{{sfn|Bong|2014|p=171}} Manchukuo had been presented since its founding in 1931 as an idealistic Pan-Asian experiment, where the officially designated "five races" of the Japanese, Han Chinese, Manchus, Koreans and Mongols had come together to build a utopian society.{{sfn|Bong|2014|p=137-138}} Manchukuo also had a substantial Russian minority who initially been considered as the "sixth race", but had been excluded.{{sfn|Bong|2014|p=137-138}} The spy stories of Manchukuo such as "A Mixed Race Woman" by the writer Ding Na often linked the willingness to serve as spies with having a mixed Russian-Han heritage; the implication being that people of "pure" descent from one of the "five races" of Manchukuo would not betray it.{{sfn|Bong|2014|p=169-170}} In "A Mixed Race Woman", the villain initially appears to Mali, the eponymous character who has a Russian father and a Han mother, but she ultimately is revealed to be blackmailed by the story's true villain, the foreign spy Baoerdun, and she proves to be loyal to Manchukuo after all as she forces the gun out of Baoerdun's hand at the story's climax.{{sfn|Bong|2014|p=170}} However, Ding's story also states that Baoerdun would not dare to have attempted his blackmail scheme against a Han woman and that he targeted Mali because she was racially mixed and hence "weak".{{sfn|Bong|2014|p=178}}

When Japan invaded China in 1937 and even more so in 1941, the level of repression and propaganda in Manchukuo was increased as the state launched a "total war" campaign to mobilise society for the war.{{sfn|Bong|2014|p=172}} As part of the "total war" campaign, the state warned people to be vigilant at all times for spies; alongside this campaign went a mania for spy stories, which likewise warned people to be vigilant against spies.{{sfn|Bong|2014|p=172}} Novels and films with a counterespionage theme became ubiquitous in Manchukuo from 1937 onward.{{sfn|Bong|2014|p=174}} Despite the intensely patriarchal values of Manchukuo, the counter-spy campaign targeted women who were encouraged to report anyone suspicious to the police with one slogan saying, "Women defend inside and men defend outside".{{sfn|Bong|2014|p=172-173}} The spy stories of Manchukuo such as "A Mixed Race Woman" often had female protagonists.{{sfn|Bong|2014|p=172-173}} In "A Mixed Race Woman", it is two ordinary women who break up the spy ring instead of the Manchukuo police as might be expected.{{sfn|Bong|2014|p=170}} The South Korean scholar Bong InYoung noted stories such as "A Mixed Race Woman" were part of the state's campaign to take over "...the governance of private and family life, relying on the power of propaganda literature and the nationwide mobilization of the social discourse of counterespionage".{{sfn|Bong|2014|p=174}} At the same time, she noted "A Mixed Race Woman" with its intelligent female protagonists seemed to challenge the patriarchal values of Manchukuo which portrayed women as the weaker sex in need of male protection and guidance.{{sfn|Bong|2014|p=174}} However, Bong noted that the true heroine of "A Mixed Race Woman", Shulan is presented as superior to Mali as she is Han and the story is one "...of female disempowerment in that Mali is completely subordinate to the racial order Shulan sets".{{sfn|Bong|2014|p=181}}