Ashenden, or The British Agent

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Ashenden, or The British Agent

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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.
A playwright called Ashenden is recruited by Colonel R., a British Intelligence officer. He is sent to Switzerland where he becomes involved in a series of adventures. In one he accompanies a man called the Hairless Mexican to Italy, where a Greek agent of the Germans is to be assassinated. In another he must persuade an Italian dancer to induce her Indian lover, a German agent, to cross the border from neutral Switzerland to see her in allied France, so that Ashenden can arrest him.
Chapters
R.
A Domiciliary Visit
Miss King
The Hairless Mexican
The Dark Woman
The Greek
A Trip to Paris
Giulia Lazzari
Gustav
The Traitor
Behind the Scenes
His Excellency
The Flip of a Coin
A Chance Acquaintance
Love and Russian Literature
Mr. Harrington's Washing
The chapters are collected in later collections under different titles, as below. It is unknown whether they were rewritten slightly from original publication.
"A Domiciliary Visit" & "Miss King" as Miss King
"The Hairless Mexican", "The Dark Woman", "The Greek" as The Hairless Mexican
"A Trip to Paris, "Giulia Lazzari" as Giulia Lazzari
"Gustav", "The Traitor" as The Traitor
"Behind the Scenes", "His Excellency", as His Excellency
"A Chance Acquaintance", "Love and Russian Literature", "Mr. Harrington's Washing" as Mr. Harrington's Washing