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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The train waited on and he sang song after song. I could not understand his
words, but through his singing, wild and melancholy, I seemed to hear the cry of
the oppressed: I felt the lonely steppes and the interminable forests; the flow of
the ...
It is strange, I felt no anger because she had betrayed me, I should have hated
her because of her vileness, I could not, I only felt that my soul was enveloped in
night. Poor thing, poor thing, I could have cried for pity for her. I drew my arm very
...
Meanwhile he felt the clothes, rapidly but with care, as he took them out. There
were no papers of any sort in the suit-case. Then he took out his knife and slit the
lining. It was a cheap piece and the lining was gummed to the material of which ...
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LibraryThing Review
User Review - kristykay22 - LibraryThingThis is a compelling, although rather chilly, collection of loosely connected short stories following the intelligence work of Ashenden, a writer turned spy for the British government during World War ... Read full review
LibraryThing Review
User Review - lamour - LibraryThingThis is volume three of Maugham's collected short stories. In this volume he has placed his stories that have the same protagonist, Ashendan, who is recruited to move to Switzerland where he will be a ... 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 |