 The treachery of Le Chiffre , with the overtones of a fifth column , struck a chord with the largely British readership as Communist influence in the trade unions had been an issue in the press and parliament at the time . Britain had also suffered from defections to the Soviet Union from two MI5 operatives who were part of the Cambridge Five spy ring that betrayed Western secrets to the Soviets . Thus Lycett observes that Casino Royale can be seen as Fleming 's " attempt to reflect the disturbing moral ambiguity of a post @-@ war world that could produce traitors like Burgess and Maclean " . The journalist and writer Matthew Parker observes that with the defections of the two spies so recent to the publication , it was " perhaps the closest Fleming came to a [ John ] le Carré @-@ style spy story " . Chancellor sees the moral ambiguity of the Cold War reflected in the novel . 
