Ashenden, Or: The British AgentAshenden: The British Agent is founded on Maugham's experiences in the English Intelligence Department during World War I, but rearranged for the purposes of fiction. This fascinating book contains 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 secret service. The plot follows the imaginary John Ashenden who during World War I is a spy for British Intelligence. He is sent first to Geneva and later to Russia. Instead of one story from start to finish, the chapters contain individual stories involving many different characters. All of the people whom Ashenden meets during his travels have their own reason for being involved in the spy game, and each are more complex than they first look. |
From inside the book
Results 1-3 of 51
Page 12
... once that his things , though not in disorder , were not as he had left them . He guessed that an examina- tion had been made of his effects . That did not dis- turb him , for he kept in his room no document that would compromise him ...
... once that his things , though not in disorder , were not as he had left them . He guessed that an examina- tion had been made of his effects . That did not dis- turb him , for he kept in his room no document that would compromise him ...
Page 79
... once , but the murder was so ingenious that I could never find a way of bringing it home to the murderer , and after all , one of the conventions of the detective story is that the mystery should in the end be solved and the criminal ...
... once , but the murder was so ingenious that I could never find a way of bringing it home to the murderer , and after all , one of the conventions of the detective story is that the mystery should in the end be solved and the criminal ...
Page 230
... once he had removed that impression from her he would never bother about her again . He thought of O'Malley too , and of Yvonne . She must have told them and it galled him to think that people whom in his heart he despised should laugh ...
... once he had removed that impression from her he would never bother about her again . He thought of O'Malley too , and of Yvonne . She must have told them and it galled him to think that people whom in his heart he despised should laugh ...
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Common terms and phrases
agent Alix ambassador Anastasia Alexandrovna answer Ashen Ashenden felt Ashenden knew Ashenden looked Ashenden saw Ashenden thought asked Ashenden baroness bassador Bolsheviks Brindisi Byring Caypor chance Chandra Colonel course cried Delilah detective dine dinner door enden English everything eyes face Fafner feeling fellow fool France Fritzi gave Geneva German Giulia give glance Gustav Hairless Mexican hand Harrington head heart Herbert Witherspoon Holzminden hour humour lake laughed Lausanne Lazzari letter Lucerne married Mexican opened mind Miss King Monsieur morning neutral country never night notion O'Malley once opened Paris passport Petrograd play round Russian scrambled eggs seemed shoulders shrugged Sir Herbert sitting smile Somerville stood story Swiss Switzerland talk tell there's thing Thonon tion told took train turned Vladimir wait walked watched wife woman wondered word write