Ashenden, Or: The British AgentThis fascinating book contains probably the most expert stories of espionage ever written. For a period of time after it was first published, the book became official required reading for persons entering the British Secret Service. During World War I, Maugham enlisted with an ambulance unit, but was soon shifted to the Intelligence Department. Although these stories were based on the author's own experiences as a British agent during the war, he emphasized that they were written purely as entertainment, at which, indeed, Ashenden succeeds. Maugham's clarity of style, the perfection of his form, the subtlety of his thought, veiled thinly behind a worldly cynicism, has made him an international figure. |
From inside the book
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He found the carriage in which Giulia Lazzari was, but she sat in a corner,
looking away from the light, so that he could not see her face. She was in charge
of two detectives who had taken her over from English police at Boulogne. One of
them ...
Ashenden gave the man a brief glance, but did not ask what had passed
between him and Giulia Lazzari. He took the letter and by the light of Felix's
electric torch read it. It was in faulty German. “On no account come. Pay no
attention to my ...
He went upstairs and after a brief knock opened the door of Giulia Lazzari's room.
She was sitting in front of her dressing-table, looking at herself in the glass, just
idly or despairingly, apparently doing nothing, and it was in this that she saw ...
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LibraryThing Review
User Review - lamour - LibraryThingThis is volume three of Maugham's collected short stories. In this volume he has put his stories that have the same protagonist, Ashendan who is recruited to move to Switzerland where he will be a ... Read full review
LibraryThing Review
User Review - jimgysin - LibraryThingIt's easy to see why this one is considered an archetype of espionage fiction. The fact that the book was first published back in the late 1920s means that some of the dialogue and narrative will ... Read full review
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Bibliographic information
| Title | Ashenden, Or: The British Agent Volume 5 of Collected edition of the works of W. Somerset Maugham Short story index reprint series |
| Author | William Somerset Maugham |
| Edition | reprint |
| Publisher | Doubleday, Doran, 1941 |
| Original from | the University of California |
| Digitized | 23 May 2009 |
| ISBN | 0836940520, 9780836940527 |
| Length | 304 pages |
| Subjects | › Fiction / General |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |