British Secret Service (collected Works of Somerset Maugham)
About This Novel
After the outbreak of World War I, Maugham was recruited by the British secret intelligence service because of his proficiency in multiple languages, familiarity with various European countries, and being a well-known writer. He became a genuine "British spy" and went to Europe to perform many important missions. This book was written based on his personal experience and was hailed by The Times as "the first spy novel written by someone who experienced it personally". It is also the only spy novel Maugham wrote in his life. Although he did it by chance, he greatly broadened the writing boundaries of this type of novel, which was originally a popular entertainment form, and made more ambitious writers pay attention to the expressive potential of spy novels, thus occupying a milestone-like position in the history of the development of spy novels. In "The British Agent", Maugham did not just dazzle readers with the so-called thrills. What interested him most was still human nature in extreme situations and critical moments. As the translator of this book, Mr. Gao Jian, said, this book can be regarded as a masterpiece that is highly interesting, realistic and credible: "Some scenes in Maugham's book may not be so dramatic, but it is a perfect book and a tenable novel. "It is a work that is reasonable, credible, readable and interesting. It is based on facts and uses imagination, and it does not violate the artistic and historical truth. In addition, it is full of British style, rich in literary meaning, and has great appreciation value."
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