Mickey Spillane - When the Red Scare Hits Home
When the first Mike Hammer detective book rolled out to the public, the USA was riveted by the events in postwar Europe - and their meaning for us at home. The USSR refused to leave the many countries they had rolled through while pushing back the Nazi invaders. Then the stories of each of these countries coming to 'willingly' embrace a communist faction as their ruling party raised the stakes further. As Churchill ruminated on the fall of an iron Curtain across Europe, the internal betrayals behind these power grabs took hold of the headlines. The stories were real, and frightening, as country after country in eastern Europe saw the fall of their governments undermined by duped labor unions or traitorous politicians, as the news would tell it. The news and newspapers were dominated by these stories of spies and traitors, demonstrations, and defenestration. Stories of devious spies running duplicitous dupes, "fellow travelers" and "useful idiots" explained how these democracies were led to their doom, all because the hidden hand of someone that 'the people' had trusted. Or in the case of those who would not bend - a sudden and suspicious death.
With the added reality of spies in the Manhattan Project who provided the secrets of nuclear weapons to Russia, and leaders like Nixon and McCarthy beating the drum to draw attention to the people they saw as guilty parties, the Red Menace became a very real thing for Americans. Behind it all lurked the fear of the hidden enemy - a liar and a traitor, knowingly selling out their country, and their loved ones, for dollars or for power.
It was into this moment that a scrappy young writer named Mickey Spillane dropped detective Mike Hammer. When Hammer's best friend is gunned down, as in all detective novels, Hammer pushes into the case, determined to get justice for his departed friend, and the grieving widow. But soon, it is clear this is not a case of a gangland shooting, or a robbery gone wrong. The dead cop had uncovered a communist spy and was murdered to prevent their exposure.
Unlike even the harshest of previous detective books, the action in a Spillane book was far more graphic. This too was an aspect of the time, as the post war world had seen too much violence, and too many young men scarred or killed by that violent war they had fought. And the discussion of sex was also far more frank than any book before it. Violence, sex, betrayal? The first Mike Hammer book was an instant hit. Coming at the moment when cheap paperbacks were being created for the public, by the end of the 1950s, Mickey Spillane would have 9 of the top 10 best sellers of the decade. Only the Bible would prevent him from making it a clean sweep - but even the Bible could not take the top spot away from him.
Join Russ Gifford as he examines the legacy of Mickey Spillane and his well-known detective, Mike Hammer. They entered the scene at the intersection of history and fiction and changed both publishing and perception.