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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Ashenden knowing that R. liked a sitting-room had engaged one for him and to
this, when they reached the hotel, they went. The hotel was oldfashioned and the
sitting-room was vast. It was furnished with a heavy mahogany suite upholstered
...
It had apparently been left some time before midnight while Ashenden was sitting
in his room. He opened the telegram and saw that it was in code. “Well, it'll have
to wait,” he said, putting it back in his pocket. The Hairless Mexican walked as ...
You could hardly imagine him sitting in his shirt-sleeves over a whisky high-ball.
He was a tall, thin man, with exactly the figure to show off modern clothes, and he
sat in his chair, rather upright, as though he were sitting for an official portrait.
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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 |