ANN-322.123
BBN-ANG-322.123, BBI-ANG-322E.123, BBN-ANG11-322.123
Reality and Make-Believe: The British Secret Service through Historical Documents and Fiction (Valóság és szemfényvesztés: a brit titkosszolgalat történeti dokumentumok és irodalmi feldolgozások tükrében) in autumn 2012
Lojkó Miklós, Thu 13:30–15:00, R443, host: DES (R338)
description & set texts
The British intelligence community, the British Intelligence Service and their activities, past and present, evoke some of the most vivid historical and literary associations. Romantic, all-powerful, ruthlessly efficient yet chivalrous, there is no barrier that a British agent cannot surmount in order to accomplish a (noble) mission. Yet there is a well-known gap between the glamorous literary renderings, often containing legends, half-truths and pure fantasy about exotic locations, heated adventures and the documented historical reality about British spies, their controllers and their networks. This course aims to set the student on the right path in regard to the duality between these two different worlds.
requirements & assessment

Keith Jeffery, MI6: The History of the Secret Intelligence Service 1909-1949, London: New York : Bloomsbury, 2010.

Christopher Andrew, The Defence of the Realm: The Authorized History of MI5, London: New York : Allen Lane, 2009.

Biographies of members of the Cambridge Five

Literary and film portrayals of the Cambridge Five

John le Carré (David Cornwell), The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, The Constant Gardener, Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy, The Little Drummer Girl, The Honourable School Boy, etc.