Our Man in Europe: Eric Ambler and the 1930s

The writer Eric Ambler built his literary reputation on a series of thrillers published in the years prior to the Second World War. Praised for their maturity and realism, these works drew upon the febrile politics of the 1930s and explored the bellicose atmosphere of the interwar years. This article examines how these works were influenced by Ambler’s experiences as a tourist in Europe.

I had no way of knowing whether or not the Blackshirt’s carbine had live rounds in it; but the slap he gave the butt had been convincing. My twinge of civilian fear had been convincing, too, and interesting. I noted that it had taken about three seconds to turn fear into fury and a further half second to remember that I was a foreigner there and, for that reason probably, objectionable.[1]

Eric Ambler visited Rome as a tourist. Finding himself in the city with four hours to kill, he decided to take a look at an exhibition that was then on display in the Italian capital. It was the early 1930s and the exhibition was Mostra della Rivoluzione Fascista, or the Exhibition of the Fascist Revolution, which had been curated to boast the glories of Fascism since 1921. It was Ambler’s first in-person encounter with Fascism…and with Fascists. While there he happened to mutter a few…