The aim of this collection of essays is to explore “negative characters” in the espionage narratives of some of the most esteemed English writers, such as Conrad, Maugham, Ambler, Greene, Fleming, McEwan among others. The role of women is analysed, in particular with the figure of Mata Hari, so as to provide a gender perspective on women as villains and/or double agents. The relationship between literature and film studies is also considered in a comparative approach.

Carmen Concilio is Associate Professor of English and postcolonial literature at the University of Turin. Her research fields include British Modernism and gender studies, as well as postcolonial literature. Her most recent publications include New Critical Patterns in Postcolonial Discourse. Historical Traumas and Environmental Issues (Torino, 2012). She has co-edited Image Technologies in Canadian Literature: Narrative, Photography And Film (with R. J. Lane, Bruxelles, 2009).