Product Description

A celebrated writer by the time the war broke out in 1914, Somerset Maugham was dispatched by the Secret Service to Lucerne - under the guise of completing a play. An assignment whose danger and drama appealed both to his sense of romance and of the ridiculous. The stories collected in ASHENDEN are rooted in Maugham's own experiences as an agent, reflecting the ruthlessness and brutality of espionage, its intrigue and treachery, as well as absurdity.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #56617 in Books
• Published on: 2000-07-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

From the Back Cover
'The first spy stories written by someone who had been there and done that' The Times

When war broke out in 1914, Somerset Maugham was dispatched by the British Secret Service to Switzerland under the guise of completing a play. Multilingual, knowledgeable about many European countries and a celebrated writer, Maugham had the perfect cover, and the assignment appealed to his love of romance, and of the ridiculous. The stories collected in Ashenden are rooted in Maugham's own experiences as an agent, reflecting the ruthlessness and brutality of espionage, its intrigue and treachery, as well as its absurdity.

See also: Up at the Villa

About the Author
William Somerset Maugham was born in 1874 and lived in Paris until he was ten. He was educated at King's School, Canterbury, and at Heidelberg University. He spent some time at St. Thomas' Hospital with the idea of practising medicine, but the success of his first novel, Liza of Lambeth, published in 1897, won him over to literature. Of Human Bondage, the first of his masterpieces, came out in 1915, and with the publication in 1919 of The Moon and Sixpence his reputation as a novelist was established. At the same time his fame as a successful playwright and writer was being consolidated with acclaimed productions of various plays and the publication of several short story collections. His other works include travel books, essays, criticism and the autobiographical The Summing Up and A Writer's Notebook. In 1927 Somerset Maugham settled in the South of France and lived there until his death in 1965

Customer Reviews

ATMOSPHERIC
Ashenden was particularly admired by Raymond Chandler, and that is what first interested me in it. It is the story, based on Maugham's own experience, of a British spy in the first world war. The 'story' is more a series of separate episodes, and I can easily imagine why it appealed to Chandler -- as well as the laconic detachment of the writing, there is almost a feel of Hammett here and there, notably the episode of the Hairless Mexican. Much of the action centres round Geneva, a city I personally like, and there is a peculiar fascination in the voyage of the lake-steamer going in and out of the war-zone as it alternates between Switzerland and France. This kind of spy did not have much in common with the heroes of Len Deighton or John Le Carre -- the job reminds me more of how J K Galbraith described the life of an ambassador, ninety percent boredom and ten percent panic, like being an airline pilot. It has its grim side too as you would expect. One of the most memorable pieces is the story of the traitor Grantley Caypor. Some years ago Ashenden was serialised on television, with Caypor superbly played by Alan Bennett. What that production did not even try to reproduce was what happened at the moment of Caypor's execution, unforgettable in Maugham's cold prose.

Very droll
A very droll account of the life of Ashenden, a bridge- and bath-loving British spy in the First World War, full of sarcastic wit. The book opens oddly with an essay in which the author appears to be criticising slice-of-life novels which have no real coherent plot running through them, then goes on to write just such a book! The book is a series of rather disjointed episodes in Ashenden's career, some tragic and some very funny. It is imbued throughout with a very, very dark and sarcastic sense of humour which reminded me of Saki. Ashenden's superior, Colonel R., is particularly cynical. The highlight of the book for me was Ashenden's love affair with a Russian intellectual, which is hilarious. Worth a read in my opinion, but not for the squeamish or easily-offended, or those who don't understand British humour.

Historically Significant
Worth a read for historical reasons as it is one of (if not the) first modern spy novels. That said, it is very far away from the intricately woven page-turners featuring brainy CIA types bedding winsome females that we tend to think of as being spy novels today. Maugham served in the British intelligence corps in WWI and drew heavily upon his own experiences in writing this book, indeed the epynonymous hero is a well-known writer by profession. Each chapter is almost its own vignette, illustrating some experience or aspect of the intelligent agent's life. The theme is that the agent's life is marked by dullness and inability to know the "big picture." Ashenden is based in Switzerland and undertakes his assignments (none of which involve gunplay or physical prowess) dutifully, yet the reader feels, with a certain ambivalence. There is one especially haunting scene where, for once, Ashenden witnesses first hand, the repercussions of his actions.