Ashenden, or, The British Agent

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shut their eyes to dirty work so that they could put their clean hands on their hearts and congratulate themselves that they had never done anything that was unbecoming to men of honour. Like Maugham, Ashenden is an author; approached by a middle-aged Colonel (later known as ‘R’) at a party in London, shortly after the outbreak of the first world war. There is an old story told about the dilemma of a monkey reaching down through the narrow neck of a glass jar to grab the alluring beads contained within and to which he is irresistably attracted.

Sir Michael Caine knows a thing or two about gangs: whether that’s joining one as a kid, or playing them in movies for over 50 years. Here we have the sophisticated multi-lingual Englishman of good breeding fighting those Axis spies during the First World War.Although Ashenden is described more than once I didn't feel the affection for it that I needed for it to become a major character in its own right. During this period he was also employed freelance by the BBC to present a weekly Faith and Ethics radio programme for four years. We have been a bold and influential voice in the church since 1888, standing up for traditional Catholic culture and values.

He has published on the Oxford Inklings and CS Lewis in particular, writing Op Ed pieces for the London Times and the Daily Telegraph and occasional articles and book reviews in the Church Times. The history didn't weigh these pieces down - they were about people living out their lives at a certain time. It tells the story of Ashenden, a beautiful country house, designed and built in the late 18th century, and of the people who own, live or work there over the centuries. So authors like John le Carré, Graham Greene and Len Deighton follow in the pattern suggested by Somerset Maugham.Ugyanakkor Maugham erőssége nem a csűrés-csavarás, hanem a jellemrajz és az erkölcsi konfliktusok ábrázolása, úgyhogy kapunk egészen káprázatosan felskiccelt, komplex szereplőket meg feloldhatatlan morális dilemmákat is, mindezt egy finom, elegáns atmoszférába ágyazva.