To Catch a Spy: Children, Espionage, and the Blurring of Boundaries in First World War Children’s Literature

Throughout WWI, representations of children participating in the war effort blurred the lines between play and work, childhood and adulthood, and reality and imagination. This is particularly evident within the spy genre, which alternately celebrates and critiques the child spy/spy-catcher. Some spy stories celebrate children’s service to the nation, while others critique wartime propaganda and the figure of the child hero. The spy genre’s representations of young people and the foe they confront reveal varied understandings of childhood, adulthood, national identity, and children’s wartime responsibilities.