This text presents a fictional representation of political power in the first half of the 20th century. Amongst the main themes explored are the lure of political romanticism and the construction of the distinctly "British" political identity.
This study gives insights into the process of "imagining history" and argues the case for a humanistic approach. It shows how writers have brought alive in their work an individual struggle to comprehend some of the most important political phenomena to the 2Oth century.
What is literary noir? How do British and American noir thrillers relate to their historical contexts? In considering such questions, this study ranges over hundreds of novels, analyzing the politics and poetics of noir.