Spy writing

Do real spies write the best spy novels?

Do you have to be a spy to write about spies? Or can imagination and research rival experience?

The spy genre does have its roots in good, old-fashioned experience. Ian Fleming kicked off the modern spy novel as we know it with James Bond — and his books were heavily inspired by his own time in British Naval Intelligence.

Fleming spent much of the 1940s heading up a covert unit dedicated to infiltrating German territory to learn about the country's nuclear program. He was also integral in smuggling Nazi officials and academics from Germany to the United Kingdom.