British 'Spy Fever' in the First World War

An exploration of how 'spy fever' supposedly gripped the British nation during the First World War.

Following the declaration of war in 1914, German spies were sighted across Britain as a potent form of 'spy fever' supposedly gripped the nation. This book questions the extent to which British society was truly terrified of German spies and explores the broader impacts of secret warfare during the early stages of the First World War. Harry Richards analyses the widespread belief that a clandestine network of spies and saboteurs, mostly comprised of naturalised aliens domiciled in Britain, had successfully infiltrated all elements of society. When war came, these nefarious agents would supposedly carry out acts intended to disrupt or incapacitate Britain's war effort from within, and gather vital intelligence designed to support attacks from without. Although that danger never fully materialised, elements of British society remained convinced that German agents remained at large.

British 'Spy Fever' in the First World War contends that our understanding of spy fever is in need of significant revision. Each chapter examines different emotional experiences: alarm, terror, excitement, anxiety, hope, anger, and enjoyment. Whereas previous studies of spy fever have taken a narrow view, arguing that it was entirely characterised by terror and hysteria, this book shows that it should encompass a wider variety of emotions and experiences. British society was certainly obsessed with the imagery of German espionage, but this did not constitute a physical or psychological condition. The collective fascination is what we might term spy fever.