The Spy Paramount (British Library Spy Classics)

Spy thriller fiction written in the Golden Age of Murder

'The men who work for you, General', he observed, 'should rid themselves of any fear of death'.

Rome, 1934. Martin Fawley leaves the American secret service and is recruited by General Berati, the most feared man in fascist Italy, as a spy. After a brief encounter with a glamorous yet murderous Italian princess, Fawley's mission takes him undercover to Monaco. Suave and worldly, Fawley is quite at home in the casinos and golf courses of Monte Carlo―but he is soon entangled in a game with higher stakes. As the nations of Europe vie for power, Fawley discovers the secret weapon that will determine the outcome of the looming war.

This classic thriller―undoubtedly an influence on Ian Fleming's James Bond novels―is now republished for the first time since the 1930s. With its yachts and cocktail parties, its steely hero and brutal assassins, and its cinematic range across the cities of Europe, this is a gripping and sophisticated tale of a spy who saves the world.

E. PHILLIPS OPPENHEIM (1866-1946) was one of the most popular and successful writers of spy fiction in the early twentieth century, and was known in his time as the Prince of Storytellers. He was the author of more than 100 novels, of which The Great Impersonation has always been the most acclaimed.