Simon located some 500 thrillers written in English and set in the Middle East. Some of these (John Buchan's Greenmantle, Le Carré's Little Drummer Girl) are famous; others are deservedly obscure, filled with primitive stereotypes ("their shifty, swarthy faces set them off immediately as Arabs") and preposterous plots (Richard Graves's Cobalt 60 tells of a Red Sea emir who disguises himself as a German photographer and tries to kill American leaders by shooting radioactive paper clips at them; Nick Carter's Casbah Killers involves a Berber plan, backed by Chinese Communists, to invade Europe via a tunnel under Gibraltar).
With flair and a sense of humor, Simon points to the main characteristics of thrillers (their plots, heroes, villains) and draws a number of conclusions about the British and American attitudes toward the Middle East. As befits an historian, she also shows how these have evolved since World War I.
Certain constants stand out: English-speakers are interested in the Middle East as it affects themselves; despite decades of effort, racism remains deeply ingrained in the popular psyche; and the fear of resurgent Islam has special potency because it harks back to centuries-old memories - though it has changed from a military threat into an economic one. Not a pretty picture, to be sure; but to the extent that popular attitudes influence policy, one that needs to be taken into account by politicians.
