The Blunt Affair: Official secrecy and treason in literature, television and film, 1980–89

The Blunt Affair Examines A Number Of Significant Plays, Films And Novels About Or Related To The Cambridge Spies That Appeared Between The Time Of Anthony Blunt's Unmasking As The Fourth Man In Late 1979 And The End Of The Cold War. The Book Argues That These Works Collectively Offer A Forceful Response To Issues That Were At The Forefront Of British Politics And Culture Throughout The 1980s, Such As The Rise In Anti-gay Sentiment And Policies During The Aids Crisis, Nuclear Proliferation And The Cnd's Stand Against It, State Secrecy And The Abuse Of The Official Secrets Act, Thatcherism, And Patriotic Imperatives. It Also Offers A Much-needed Reassessment Of The Literary And Filmic Culture Of The Decade, Arguing That These Texts, By Writers As Diverse As Dennis Potter, Julian Mitchell, Alan Bennett, Tom Stoppard, John Le Carré, Robin Chapman And Hugh Whitemore, Deserve A More Central Place In Cultural Assessments Of The Period. Offering A Timely Analysis Of State Secrecy, National Loyalty And Government Overreach, The Blunt Affair Will Be Of Interest To Students And Scholars Of Twentieth-century British History And Culture, Particularly Those Working On Post-war Television, Drama And Film--page 4 Of Cover. Introduction : The Blunt Affair And Its Impact On Literature, Television And Film In The 1980s -- Tradition And Treason In Dennis Potter's Blade On The Feather -- School For Scandal : Julian Mitchell's Another Country -- Allegories Of Prudence : Alan Bennett's Single Spies -- Tender Comrades : Friendship And Treason In Robin Chapman's One Of Us And Blunt: The Fourth Man -- Men Of The Middle Ground : John Le Carré's A Perfect Spy And The Treachery Of Kim Philby -- The Unsavoury World Of Espionage : Tom Stoppard's The Dog It Was That Died -- Secrecy, The State And The Citizen : Hugh Whitemore's Pack Of Lies, Concealed Enemies And Breaking The Code -- Gentlemen's Agreement : Scandal, The Profumo Affair, And The End Of The Cold War -- Conclusion : Getting At The Darkness : Poststructuralism And Naturalism In Literature, Television And Film In The 1980s. Jonathan Bolton. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.