William Le Queux’s Followers (29)

William Le Queux

Born

in London, The United Kingdom

July 02, 1864

Died

October 13, 1927

Genre

Mystery & Thrillers, History, Short Stories

edit data

William Tufnell Le Queux was born in London on 2 July 1864. His father, also William of Chateauroux, Indre, was a French draper's assistant and his mother was English.

He was educated in Europe and studied art under Ignazio Spiridon in Paris. He walked extensively in France and Germany and supported himself for a time writing for French newspapers. It was one of his sensational stories in 'The Petit Journal' that attracted the attention of the French novelist Emile Zola and it was supposedly he who encouraged Le Queux to become a full-time writer.

In the late 1880s he returned to London where he edited the magazines 'Gossip' and 'Piccadilly' before joining the staff of the newspaper 'The Globe' in 1891 as a parliamentary reporter. But he resi William Tufnell Le Queux was born in London on 2 July 1864. His father, also William of Chateauroux, Indre, was a French draper's assistant and his mother was English.

He was educated in Europe and studied art under Ignazio Spiridon in Paris. He walked extensively in France and Germany and supported himself for a time writing for French newspapers. It was one of his sensational stories in 'The Petit Journal' that attracted the attention of the French novelist Emile Zola and it was supposedly he who encouraged Le Queux to become a full-time writer.

In the late 1880s he returned to London where he edited the magazines 'Gossip' and 'Piccadilly' before joining the staff of the newspaper 'The Globe' in 1891 as a parliamentary reporter. But he resigned in 1893 and decided to abandon journalism to concentrate on writing and travelling. And his extensive travelling saw him visit Russia, the Near East, North Africa, Egypt and the Sudan and in 1912-13 he was a correspondent in the Balkan War for the Daily Mail. On his travels he found it necessary to become an expert revolver shot.

His first book was 'Guilty Bonds' (1891), which concentrated on political conspiracy in Russia to such a degree that it was subsequently banned in that country. A series of short stories 'Strange Tales of a Nihilist' followed in 1892 and from then on he was producing books on a regular basis until his death, and beyond, as a number of posthumous works were published.

His works mainly related to espionage activity and it was said that he was employed for a number of years as a member of the British Secret Service, where he was an expert on wireless transmission. He did claim to have been the first wireless experimenter to have broadcast from his station at Guildford in 1920/21 and he was president of the Wireless Experimental Association and a member of the Institute of Radio Engineers.

He stated at one time that he began writing to help finance his work for British Intelligence for whom he was required to undertake much travelling and to make personal contact with royalty and other high-ranking people. He recorded some of the latter meetings in his autobiography entitled 'Things I Know about Kings, Celebrities and Crooks' (1923).

He was at one time Consul of the Republic of San Marino and he possessed Italian, Serbian and Montenegrin decorations. He was also a keen collector of medieval manuscripts and monastic seals.

However, all his activities did not stop him turning out novel after novel and at the time of his death he had well over 100 books to his credit.

After several weeks' illness, he died at Knocke, Belgium, in the early hours of 13 October 1927. His body was returned to England and on 19 October he was cremated at Golders Green with the Reverend Francis Taylor of Bedford conducting the service, which was attended by Le Queux's brother and a few intimate friends.

Gerry Wolstenholme
January 2013

...more

Combine Editions
William Le Queux’s books

Average rating: 3.53 · 2,117 ratings · 283 reviews · 370 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Seven Secrets 3.54 avg rating — 169 ratings — published 1903 — 231 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Czar's Spy: The Mystery of a Silent Love 3.54 avg rating — 140 ratings — published 1905 — 250 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Four Faces: A Mystery 3.50 avg rating — 138 ratings — published 1914 — 84 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Minister of Evil The Secret History of Rasputin's Betrayal of Russia 3.15 avg rating — 94 ratings — published 1918 — 85 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Invasion 3.11 avg rating — 89 ratings — published 1906	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The House of Whispers ($.99 Mystery Classics) 3.15 avg rating — 62 ratings — published 1909 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Closed Book: Concerning the Secret of the Borgias 3.67 avg rating — 51 ratings — published 1904 — 60 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Great White Queen A Tale of Treasure and Treason 3.44 avg rating — 54 ratings — published 1896 — 477 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Hushed Up!: A Mystery of London 3.13 avg rating — 48 ratings — 49 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Stretton Street Affair (1922) 3.78 avg rating — 32 ratings — published 1922 — 166 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by William Le Queux…

Quotes by William Le Queux (?)

“To write for one’s bread and to write for mere pastime are very different matters.”
― William Le Queux, Guilty Bonds

1 likes

“He indulged in a little profanity, born of his emotion, which need not be set down here. Shorn of certain expletives, natural to a man of his class, he inquired of Brown what was the matter.”
― William Le Queux, This House to Let

0 likes

“Would not some effort be made to repel the invaders? Surely if we had lost our command of the sea the War Office could, by some means, assemble sufficient men to at least protect London? This was the cry of the wild, turbulent crowd surging through the City and West End, as the blood-red sun sank into the west, flooding London in its warm afterglow--a light in the sky that was prophetic of red ruin and of death to those wildly excited millions.”
― William Le Queux, The Invasion

tags: invasion, london, war

0 likes

See all William Le Queux's quotes »

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
Reading with Style: WI 10-11 RwS Completed Tasks - Winter	704	511	Mar 01, 2011 09:19AM
The Sword and Laser: Why does Edgar Rice Burroughs still matter?	28	120	Feb 10, 2012 10:48AM
Bright Young Things: May 2014- The Ministry of Fear by Graham Greene	83	45	Aug 31, 2015 04:40AM
Goodreads Librari...: Please Merge These	4	89	May 31, 2016 12:12AM
Goodreads Librari...: Merge Authors?	4	19	Nov 25, 2017 03:29AM
Reading the 20th ...: What books are you reading now? (2017-19)	2003	235	Jun 10, 2019 08:43PM
Cozy Mysteries : Title and Author game, Round 5	7285	327	May 14, 2020 09:14PM
Cozy Mysteries : Mystery ABC's, Round 5	6766	353	May 14, 2020 09:27PM
Reading with Style: SU 20 Completed Tasks	798	69	Aug 31, 2020 09:04PM

More…

William Le Queux’s Followers (29)

William Le Queux

Combine EditionsWilliam Le Queux’s books

Topics Mentioning This Author

Combine Editions
William Le Queux’s books