Biggles sees red: Saving Australia from the communist menace

Title
Biggles sees red: Saving Australia from the communist menace
Publication Date
2013
Author(s)
Ihde, Erin
( author )
OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8738-5270
Email: eihde2@une.edu.au
UNE Id une-id:eihde2
Type of document
Journal Article
Language
en
Entity Type
Publication
Publisher
Intellect Ltd
Place of publication
United Kingdom
DOI
10.1386/ajpc.2.3.363_1
UNE publication id
une:12860
Abstract
James Bigglesworth, known as 'Biggles', is a children's fictional character created by the English author Captain W. E. Johns in the 1930s. The 'Biggles' books became some of the most popular children's titles of the twentieth century. Biggles had adventures worldwide, but after World War II his adversaries were often communists. These stories reflect Cold War tensions, and many explore issues that are directly pertinent to Australian readers, including Korea, China and even a story set in Australia itself - where Biggles was particularly popular - in which Biggles thwarts a planned communist uprising involving Aborigines. This article explores the extent to which the books were influential in shaping Cold War attitudes during the 1950s and 1960s, in light of Johns' expressed intentions when writing the books.
Link
Citation
The Australasian Journal of Popular Culture, 2(3), p. 363-380
ISSN
2045-5860
2045-5852
Start page
363
End page
380

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