gives one to understand." Themes Casino Royale was written after, and was heavily influenced by, the Second World War; Britain was still an imperial power, and the Western and Eastern blocs were engaged in the Cold War. The journalist William Cook observes that with the decline in power of the British Empire, "Bond pandered to Britain's inflated and increasingly insecure self-image, flattering us with the fantasy that Britannia could still punch above her weight." The cultural historians Janet Woollacott and Tony Bennett agree, and consider that "Bond embodied the imaginary possibility that England might once again be placed at the centre of world affairs during a period when its world power status was visibly and rapidly declining." In 1953 parts of central London, including Oxford Street and High Holborn still had uncleared bomb sites and sweets had ceased being rationed, but coal and other food items were still regulated. According to The Times journalist and historian Ben Macintyre, Bond was "the ideal antidote to Britain's postwar austerity, rationing and the looming premonition of lost power". Casino Royale deals with the question of Anglo-American relations, reflecting the real-world central role of the US in the defence of the West. The academic Jeremy Black points to the 1951 defections of two members of MI6—Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean—to the Soviet Union as having a major impact on how Britain was poorly viewed in US intelligence circles; Fleming was aware of this tension between the two countries, but he did not focus on it too strongly, and Bond and Leiter's warm relationship did not reflect the reality of the US-UK relationship. Amis, in his exploration of Bond in The James Bond Dossier, pointed out that Leiter is "such a nonentity as a piece of characterization ... he, the American, takes orders from Bond, the Britisher, and that Bond is constantly doing better than he". The journalist and author Christopher Hitchens observed that "the central paradox of the classic Bond stories is that, although superficially devoted to the Anglo-American war against communism, they are full of contempt and resentment for America and Americans". David Seed, in his examination of spy fiction, disagrees, and writes that while Bond beats Le Chiffre, his "activities are constantly supported by American agencies, financing and know-how". The treachery of Le Chiffre, with the overtones of a fifth column, struck a chord with the largely British readership as Communist influence