The third volume of W. Somerset Maugham’s Collected Short Stories, introduced by the author, contains the celebrated series about Ashenden, a secret service agent in World War I.
Based on Maugham’s own experiences with the British Intelligence service in Switzerland, the stories are vignettes in which he dramatizes both the romance and absurdity of espionage as well as its ruthlessness and brutality.
Dreaming of Home and Haileybury
William Somerset Maugham’s short stories are like the furniture in a grand boarding-house or the home of an elderly aunt. When I read ‘A Man with a Conscience’ or ‘A Winter Cruise’, I am...
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