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Blackford Oakes #1
Saving the Queen
Vintage paperback
Paperback
First published January 1, 1976
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952 people want to read
About the author
William F. Buckley Jr.
183 books337 followersWilliam Frank Buckley, Jr. was an American author and conservative commentator. He founded the political magazine National Review in 1955, hosted 1,429 episodes of the television show Firing Line from 1966 until 1999, and was a nationally syndicated newspaper columnist. His writing style was famed for its erudition, wit, and use of uncommon words.
Buckley was "arguably the most important public intellectual in the United States in the past half century," according to George H. Nash, a historian of the modern American conservative movement. "For an entire generation he was the preeminent voice of American conservatism and its first great ecumenical figure." Buckley's primary intellectual achievement was to fuse traditional American political conservatism with economic libertarianism and anti-communism, laying the groundwork for the modern American conservatism of US Presidential candidate Barry Goldwater and US President Ronald Reagan.
Buckley came on the public scene with his critical book God and Man at Yale (1951); among over fifty further books on writing, speaking, history, politics and sailing, were a series of novels featuring CIA agent Blackford Oakes. Buckley referred to himself "on and off" as either libertarian or conservative. He resided in New York City and Stamford, Connecticut, and often signed his name as "WFB." He was a practicing Catholic, regularly attending the traditional Latin Mass in Connecticut.
Buckley was "arguably the most important public intellectual in the United States in the past half century," according to George H. Nash, a historian of the modern American conservative movement. "For an entire generation he was the preeminent voice of American conservatism and its first great ecumenical figure." Buckley's primary intellectual achievement was to fuse traditional American political conservatism with economic libertarianism and anti-communism, laying the groundwork for the modern American conservatism of US Presidential candidate Barry Goldwater and US President Ronald Reagan.
Buckley came on the public scene with his critical book God and Man at Yale (1951); among over fifty further books on writing, speaking, history, politics and sailing, were a series of novels featuring CIA agent Blackford Oakes. Buckley referred to himself "on and off" as either libertarian or conservative. He resided in New York City and Stamford, Connecticut, and often signed his name as "WFB." He was a practicing Catholic, regularly attending the traditional Latin Mass in Connecticut.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 97 reviews
October 1, 2015
First published in 1976, this is the first novel featuring former fighter pilot turned CIA undercover agent, Blackford Oakes. We first meet Oakes in 1951 at Yale, where having spent time in the war, he is unsure of what to do next before being recruited for the CIA. Being the first in a series, this is an introduction to Oakes, his background and his training. Oakes is then sent to England, where due to the sudden death of her sister, we have a young, fictional, Queen Caroline on the throne.
Oakes has a history with England, where his mother lives with his step father and where he had a (very) unhappy educational experience, so being back brings mixed emotions. The Americans are concerned that secrets about hydrogen bomb research is being leaked to the Russians and Oakes is sent to investigate. His undercover work leads to him being presented to the Queen and what follows is a tongue in cheek, romantic and, often funny, Cold War espionage novel. I enjoyed this very much and would be interested to read further books in the series. Lastly, I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.
Oakes has a history with England, where his mother lives with his step father and where he had a (very) unhappy educational experience, so being back brings mixed emotions. The Americans are concerned that secrets about hydrogen bomb research is being leaked to the Russians and Oakes is sent to investigate. His undercover work leads to him being presented to the Queen and what follows is a tongue in cheek, romantic and, often funny, Cold War espionage novel. I enjoyed this very much and would be interested to read further books in the series. Lastly, I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.
January 23, 2018
Summary: The first of Buckley's Blackford Oakes espionage novels, covering his recruitment to the CIA and first mission, to ferret out the person high up in British government betraying atomic secrets to the Soviet Union.
Most people know William F. Buckley, Jr. as the founder of the National Review, for his witty and erudite conversations on Firing Line, and maybe for his God and Man at Yale. Inspired by Frederick Forsyth's The Day of the Jackal, he decided to try his hand at the spy novel, creating Blackford Oakes, a Yale graduate, World WW II fighter pilot, breaker of rules and conventions who is recruited into the CIA. Saving the Queen is the first of eleven novels that Buckley wrote in this genre. Now, thanks to a collaborative arrangement between Mysterious Press and Open Road Media, the whole series is once again available.
The novel is framed by Oakes being subpoened to testify about the Agency during a congressional witch hunt. Will he tell he truth and possibly betray national secrets and personal friends? Will he "take the Fifth" and bring suspicion down upon himself? Here, as in his life growing up and first mission, Oakes finds a way to go outside the rules.
It began at Greyburn, a British boys school where he lasted only weeks, before a humorous and belittling drawing of a teacher, and a beating by the headmaster in front of his friend, Anthony Trust, results in his willing departure from the school. A brief but successful flight career, studies at Yale, along with time in France and family in London make him an ideal CIA candidate, recruited by his old friend trust.
After his initial training, he learns of his assignment, to insinuate himself into the top circles of British royal life, to discover who it is around young Queen Caroline, who is betraying atomic secrets to the Russians. His cover is as an engineer working for an American foundation. He succeeds beyond his handlers' expectations, first getting invited to a reception where he meets the Queen, who is taken by his tongue in cheek repartee. An invitation to Windsor Castle follows, ostensibly to examine engineering drawings in Windsor's archives. Just how far he succeeds in achieving intimacy with the Queen and her circle, I will leave to the reader, but he discovers the source of the leaks, a relative close to the Queen, who uses her to gain access to the secrets he is passing along to the Russians.
One of his handlers is "Rufus," a legendary operative from the World War II era. As Rufus ponders Oakes intelligence, he recognizes the explosive potential of this revelation, which could bring down the Queen and the throne, unless a way could be found to eliminate the source. In the climax to the novel, Oakes, whose own cover may be compromised, is called upon to finish the job, possibly losing his own life in the process.
Bond, a Catholic and a conservative, is no prude. This is an adult novel, in the vein of Ian Fleming's, Bond. Oakes seems a kind of American counterpart, with perhaps a greater shrewdness and less gadgetry. I suspect their are future Blackford Oakes books in my life. At very least, there are a couple more on my Kindle!
Most people know William F. Buckley, Jr. as the founder of the National Review, for his witty and erudite conversations on Firing Line, and maybe for his God and Man at Yale. Inspired by Frederick Forsyth's The Day of the Jackal, he decided to try his hand at the spy novel, creating Blackford Oakes, a Yale graduate, World WW II fighter pilot, breaker of rules and conventions who is recruited into the CIA. Saving the Queen is the first of eleven novels that Buckley wrote in this genre. Now, thanks to a collaborative arrangement between Mysterious Press and Open Road Media, the whole series is once again available.
The novel is framed by Oakes being subpoened to testify about the Agency during a congressional witch hunt. Will he tell he truth and possibly betray national secrets and personal friends? Will he "take the Fifth" and bring suspicion down upon himself? Here, as in his life growing up and first mission, Oakes finds a way to go outside the rules.
It began at Greyburn, a British boys school where he lasted only weeks, before a humorous and belittling drawing of a teacher, and a beating by the headmaster in front of his friend, Anthony Trust, results in his willing departure from the school. A brief but successful flight career, studies at Yale, along with time in France and family in London make him an ideal CIA candidate, recruited by his old friend trust.
After his initial training, he learns of his assignment, to insinuate himself into the top circles of British royal life, to discover who it is around young Queen Caroline, who is betraying atomic secrets to the Russians. His cover is as an engineer working for an American foundation. He succeeds beyond his handlers' expectations, first getting invited to a reception where he meets the Queen, who is taken by his tongue in cheek repartee. An invitation to Windsor Castle follows, ostensibly to examine engineering drawings in Windsor's archives. Just how far he succeeds in achieving intimacy with the Queen and her circle, I will leave to the reader, but he discovers the source of the leaks, a relative close to the Queen, who uses her to gain access to the secrets he is passing along to the Russians.
One of his handlers is "Rufus," a legendary operative from the World War II era. As Rufus ponders Oakes intelligence, he recognizes the explosive potential of this revelation, which could bring down the Queen and the throne, unless a way could be found to eliminate the source. In the climax to the novel, Oakes, whose own cover may be compromised, is called upon to finish the job, possibly losing his own life in the process.
Bond, a Catholic and a conservative, is no prude. This is an adult novel, in the vein of Ian Fleming's, Bond. Oakes seems a kind of American counterpart, with perhaps a greater shrewdness and less gadgetry. I suspect their are future Blackford Oakes books in my life. At very least, there are a couple more on my Kindle!
January 14, 2016
I picked up this because the eBook was offered at a special price and because of Ernestine the telephone operator. (One ringy-dingy. Two ringy-dingies. Hello! Is this the party to whom I am speaking? Mr. FBuckley? Mr. William FBuckley?) I had heard much about Mr. Buckley as a commentator and columnist, but I hadn't realized that he also had written fiction. So I picked up the first "Blackford Oakes Mystery" to read. I was actually a bit disappointed as I got into the story and discovered that, in fact, it was a spy novel, not a mystery novel. However, that was quickly overcome by the quality of Buckley's writing. The story pulls you into the intrigues of cold war England, the United States, and Russia. I can't say that I got bored at any point during the reading of this book. It has a good storyline with a satisfying ending. [One thing about reading this one - keep a dictionary handy. Mr. Buckley has a very large vocabulary and he isn't afraid to use it.]
February 10, 2021
The first novel in a lengthy series, SAVING THE QUEEN introduces us to Blackford Oakes, a young man whose first undercover operation for the CIA takes him to 1950's England. There Oakes finds himself caught up in a game of chess between the Soviet Union and Great Britain, and the newly-minted spy quickly discovers he doesn't know all the rules. Will Oakes be able to discover the identity of a mysterious double agent and foil a communist plot involving hydrogen bombs in time, or will his first covert operation also be his last?
Primarily known as an erudite political analyst, William F. Buckley proves to be an excellent prose stylist as well with this outstanding novel of spies and international intrigue. Buckley gives us a very engaging protagonist in Blackford Oakes, a former Korean War fighter ace who leaves Yale University to throw his hat in with the CIA during the Cold War. Handsome, intelligent, brave, and suave, Oakes has no problem ingratiating himself with the English upper class, including the lovely and alluring Queen Caroline herself, but finds himself perhaps in over his head when his mission becomes one of life and death with major international consequences riding on its outcome. Oakes is no superman, and he is eventually forced to recognize his own expendability in the grand scheme of things. To some measure it is this level of believability--and vulnerability--that makes Blackford Oakes such a likable protagonist. For all that Oakes is exceptionally gifted in many respects, he remains an imperfect, fully realized human who can make mistakes and must wrestle with uncertainty and indecision at various points in the narrative. In part because Oakes seems so often a fish out of water, his fate--and the outcome of his mission--remains in doubt until the final chapter.
Moreover, Buckley imbues the cloak-and-dagger plot with enough detail to lend it a more than passing grade for believability. The time and place, as well as the personalities of the powerful men operating behind the scenes, are effectively evoked. No doubt this is in part due to Buckley's personal experience with intelligence work, but I suspect the author supplemented his firsthand knowledge with quite a bit of research. The result is a tale that, while set in the 1950's, reads with enduring authority. Beyond all that, SAVING THE QUEEN is simply a highly entertaining work of fiction that has inspired at least one more reader to pursue the rest of the Blackford Oakes series. As such, it is easily recommended to all fans of spy fiction and Cold War thrillers.
Primarily known as an erudite political analyst, William F. Buckley proves to be an excellent prose stylist as well with this outstanding novel of spies and international intrigue. Buckley gives us a very engaging protagonist in Blackford Oakes, a former Korean War fighter ace who leaves Yale University to throw his hat in with the CIA during the Cold War. Handsome, intelligent, brave, and suave, Oakes has no problem ingratiating himself with the English upper class, including the lovely and alluring Queen Caroline herself, but finds himself perhaps in over his head when his mission becomes one of life and death with major international consequences riding on its outcome. Oakes is no superman, and he is eventually forced to recognize his own expendability in the grand scheme of things. To some measure it is this level of believability--and vulnerability--that makes Blackford Oakes such a likable protagonist. For all that Oakes is exceptionally gifted in many respects, he remains an imperfect, fully realized human who can make mistakes and must wrestle with uncertainty and indecision at various points in the narrative. In part because Oakes seems so often a fish out of water, his fate--and the outcome of his mission--remains in doubt until the final chapter.
Moreover, Buckley imbues the cloak-and-dagger plot with enough detail to lend it a more than passing grade for believability. The time and place, as well as the personalities of the powerful men operating behind the scenes, are effectively evoked. No doubt this is in part due to Buckley's personal experience with intelligence work, but I suspect the author supplemented his firsthand knowledge with quite a bit of research. The result is a tale that, while set in the 1950's, reads with enduring authority. Beyond all that, SAVING THE QUEEN is simply a highly entertaining work of fiction that has inspired at least one more reader to pursue the rest of the Blackford Oakes series. As such, it is easily recommended to all fans of spy fiction and Cold War thrillers.
March 31, 2016
William F. Buckley's Blackford Oakes series is rightly called the American answer to James Bond. Buckley deftly interweaves fact and fiction in this imaginative account of Cold War tensions and personalities. Although I was born after or around the time of the dissolution of the USSR, I felt like this book gave me a good sense of what it was like to be alive during the Cold War years, including the complicated sense of ethical tension regarding the CIA's ethics and tactics. This is Buckleyan conservatism although the book is not preachy or explicitly didactic at all. Wonderful read.
July 18, 2019
Oh, Blackie! Buckley's Blackford Oakes series is top drawer. I've read them all, and this first of the series was good enough to propel me to read all the rest. I won't review the rest--they're all good. in one of them, I forget which, there is a minor character who is an undisguised parody of Buckley, possessing, I remember the phrase, "depressing ubiquity." How autobiographical is this first novel? Buckley was once asked if he had ever made love to the Queen of England, and replied something to effect--if you're asking me if my sexuality is normal, the answer is yes.
September 11, 2021
Truth be told, this was better than I thought it would be. Buckley could write a passable novel (makes sense, considering he convinced publishers to produce nearly a dozen such works of his). Now, it's not great--the omniscient narrator reveals most developments before they actually happen; Buckley shows off his immense reservoir of vocabulary a bit too much (with the use of "appoggiaturas" in a non-musical context being one of the more egregious examples); the descriptions of spycraft are a bit laborious; they hero is almost too perfect (Buckely quite admittedly strove to combat the moral ambiguity of such authors as John le Carré; he may have oversucceeded). And yet the novel was enjoyable nonetheless.
Well, except for the intimate scenes. It was impossible to read them without in your mind hearing Buckley's voice narrating them. And that is not a pleasant experience, I can assure you.
Well, except for the intimate scenes. It was impossible to read them without in your mind hearing Buckley's voice narrating them. And that is not a pleasant experience, I can assure you.
May 31, 2021
A surprising spy novel: at times uncomfortably upper crust, at times full of good humor, at times psychologically complex, at other times silly fun, and at times deeply moving. William F. Buckley Jr. was a joy to listen to even when he was completely and monstrously wrong. He described his own spy fiction as reactive against the moral ambiguity and cynicism of Le Carre's. As a fan of Le Carre, I wanted to give this a try, and was surprised that Buckley's novel has much moral complexity if not ambiguity. Like Le Carre, Buckley uses a subversion of spy thriller tropes to explain heroism. While Blackford Oakes is more like James Bond than George Smiley is, Oakes is harldy a cardboard cutout, pairing his movie-star good looks, ivy-league education, and wealthy upbringing with a somewhat spoiled character. I look forward to more Blackford Oakes.
September 8, 2021
Blackford Oakes is….
….America’s James Bond.
There are differences, though. Whereas Bond has gadgets to get the job done, Oakes relies on wit and old-fashioned American swagger. There are some uncomfortable similarities, though. Both have a penchant for women. This actually ties into a deeper question that isn’t often addressed directly in the Bond universe: how do we understand breaking one moral command (chastity) to pursue another: saving lives, killing communists (which are, incidentally, the same thing)?
The book begins slowly, as it must begin with the young Blackfor Oakes, his time in America, and his brief schooling in England. After his CIA training, the novel picks up in intensity and ends in a thrilling dogfight.
….America’s James Bond.
There are differences, though. Whereas Bond has gadgets to get the job done, Oakes relies on wit and old-fashioned American swagger. There are some uncomfortable similarities, though. Both have a penchant for women. This actually ties into a deeper question that isn’t often addressed directly in the Bond universe: how do we understand breaking one moral command (chastity) to pursue another: saving lives, killing communists (which are, incidentally, the same thing)?
The book begins slowly, as it must begin with the young Blackfor Oakes, his time in America, and his brief schooling in England. After his CIA training, the novel picks up in intensity and ends in a thrilling dogfight.
August 10, 2008
Saving the Queen By William F. Buckley
This weeks classic book is the WFB's first Blackford Oakes novel. Oakes seems to have been Buckley's American answer to James Bond. The story was fast paced and interesting. Newly recruited to the CIA, Oakes is sent to the UK to try to find and eliminate an intelligence leak of nuclear secrets that may well be coming from the Queen herself. This was the first in an exciting series that rivals some of the best espionage thrillers that are produced today.
This weeks classic book is the WFB's first Blackford Oakes novel. Oakes seems to have been Buckley's American answer to James Bond. The story was fast paced and interesting. Newly recruited to the CIA, Oakes is sent to the UK to try to find and eliminate an intelligence leak of nuclear secrets that may well be coming from the Queen herself. This was the first in an exciting series that rivals some of the best espionage thrillers that are produced today.
February 18, 2019
An interesting spy story if you don't take it too seriously. An American youth has a traumatic experience at a 1940s boarding school (only too believable) and "gets his own back" by getting into bed with a fictional Queen of England (somewhat less so).
Unless you are very sadistic in your tastes, his school experience was perhaps "belaboured" a bit, while I thought he got away from the place with improbable ease. Any headmaster of those days would have had ample means to prevent it. But not too bad after that.
Unless you are very sadistic in your tastes, his school experience was perhaps "belaboured" a bit, while I thought he got away from the place with improbable ease. Any headmaster of those days would have had ample means to prevent it. But not too bad after that.
August 24, 2017
I'm glad I decided to start at the beginning of the Blackford Oakes series. William F. Buckley Jr. put together a solid cold war espionage story of attempts to steal secrets of building hydrogen bombs. His wit (Oakes was reading Buckley's "God at Yale") and close up view of that era's intrigues made this a fun read at the end of my summer.
March 3, 2019
Fictional history in the vein of a James Bond thriller. If you are like me you will frequently stop to look up historical events or to consult a dictionary as Buckley’s propensity to use polysyllabic words may at times baffle. Good read. I liked it enough to purchase the next Blackford Oakes novel in the series.
February 20, 2018
What you would expect from W.F. Buckley
Witty, manly, well developed narrative and riveting story. My fist book of the series and I plan to read them all.
Witty, manly, well developed narrative and riveting story. My fist book of the series and I plan to read them all.
August 23, 2018
A literate and playful spy novel. A fun read.
July 2, 2020
Read in 1976. Political commentator Buckley's first spy thriller and it was very good. I continued to follow the series.
November 13, 2015
I owe a debt of gratitude to William F. Buckley. He ranks high among the people who have influenced my intellectual development such as it is. Of course, this debt I owe, is mostly due to his show “Firing Line” which I started watching as an adolescent. <= There. That previous sentence. "Of course this..", notice the smug, unconsciously snobbish attitude. (what a smart boy I must have been to watch Firing Line!) Buckley brought that attitude to all of his work, both on camera and on the printed page, and perhaps it affected me, probably more deeply than I know.
For example, the introductory music to Firing Line, Bach's Brandenburg Concerto #2, which repeated on each weekly session, was my first introduction to really thinking about classical music. I don't think he influenced my politics all that much, although perhaps he gave me some tools with which to think about it. But he probably did make me a snob. Hearing the music week after week, allowed me to really think about other works of music in the same way. And I started holding a pencil up to my face when I talked to people too. And all that was just from the show's introduction, before anyone said anything.
There was an adolescent quality to Buckley, (WFB) a giddy delight in gently tormenting people with his wit that appealed to teenage boys such as myself. His Bradford Oakes, novels, adventures of a young WFB doppelganger recruited into the CIA from Yale in the early 50s, were really almost Hardy Boy adventures. Saving the Queen, which has an outrageous premise as its hook, (and I won't tell you what it is and don't Google it – save it if you are going to read it.) brings back that delight he seemed to have in reviling in the travails of youth.
Saving the Queen is the introduction of Bradford Oakes, the first of ten novels about the war hero and son of Charles Lindbergh's very best friend. Oakes is a tongue in cheek version of WFB himself. The fictional Oakes, a former student at an exclusive English school for boys, had a profligate mother who was divorced from his rich father, an aviation executive and dare devil pilot.
In the story, Oakes praises the real Buckley, notable WFB's first published work “God and Man at Yale”. It is an interesting attempt to breaking the fourth wall, bringing reality into the fiction, but it also displays why Buckley just wasn't cut out to be more than a mildly entertaining fiction writer: he is clearly winking at his audience going for the cheap laugh. But that in itself makes his fiction bearable, because his stories seem to have to no other self awareness within themselves. Oakes never has any doubt about his place in the upper class world he was born into. He doesn't have any friends except for, as his mother calls it, PLUs, People like us. He can't escape his need for his characters to engage in right wing polemics, justifying McCarthyism and political paranoia of the 1950s. The story - someone close to the young Queen of England, (the fictional Caroline, a cousin of the recently deceased Elizabeth II) is feeding the Soviets technical information about the Hydrogen Bomb. The young Queen is bright and unhappy in her role as a symbolic ruler of Britannia, and takes it out on the Prime Minister by questioning him incessantly about the real state of Britain’s defenses, (How many Nuclear Weapons do we have? What is their mega-tonnage?) Oakes is inserted into London's society by the CIA and becomes acquainted with her Majesty and somewhat woodenly solves the problem. I'll leave you to decide what I mean by woodenly.
Buckley is perhaps trying to write a contrary-mirror satire of John LeCarre spy novels, a writer to whom he has elsewhere shown his disdain. Buckley didn't like the moral ambivalence in The Spy who Came in From the Cold or Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy. The West was 100% right to do anything to protect ourselves against Soviet dominion. Since his hero never has any moral doubts, his fiction doesn't really breath.
Buckley is no prig. His alter ego hero Oakes gets laid and drunk with regularity. He has a proper girl back home who he secretly sleeps with, and his prostitutes, (mostly French of course) are happy go luck girls who enjoy their work and live under the dominion of a wise and caring madam. There is no darkness in their lives, at least as far as Oakes is concerned.
In the end, the novel is dated and silly, wrapped up too neatly to take seriously. The premise is brilliant, but in my opinion he flubs it.
I walked next to William F. Buckley in an airport once, and we chatted, and he was very friendly and engaging. It was in the late 70s and I had very long hair, but I told him I loved Firing Line and always read his columns. He laughed and told me, looking at my hair and sensing my leftwardness I suppose, that I wasn't reading them with the correct attitude.
If you read a summary of his ideas today they are shockingly out of synch with even modern conservative principles. He supported white supremacy and was very homophobic. But then he came out for legalization of marijuna in 1965, and strongly condemned Bush the Dumber's war in Iraq in his last years. And he argued fairly and entertainingly, and explored ideas rather than just positions, and people who disagreed with him had a full opportunity to prevail if they could. And sometimes, when watching him, I think fair-minded people would agree they did prevail and he accepted it. Think about FOX News today. They could learn a lot by re-watching old Firing Line shows.
But Saving the Queen is a curiosity for those like myself who were drawn into Buckley's world and want to relive it a little and soak up Buckley's elegant pomposity. But it is not great fiction.
For example, the introductory music to Firing Line, Bach's Brandenburg Concerto #2, which repeated on each weekly session, was my first introduction to really thinking about classical music. I don't think he influenced my politics all that much, although perhaps he gave me some tools with which to think about it. But he probably did make me a snob. Hearing the music week after week, allowed me to really think about other works of music in the same way. And I started holding a pencil up to my face when I talked to people too. And all that was just from the show's introduction, before anyone said anything.
There was an adolescent quality to Buckley, (WFB) a giddy delight in gently tormenting people with his wit that appealed to teenage boys such as myself. His Bradford Oakes, novels, adventures of a young WFB doppelganger recruited into the CIA from Yale in the early 50s, were really almost Hardy Boy adventures. Saving the Queen, which has an outrageous premise as its hook, (and I won't tell you what it is and don't Google it – save it if you are going to read it.) brings back that delight he seemed to have in reviling in the travails of youth.
Saving the Queen is the introduction of Bradford Oakes, the first of ten novels about the war hero and son of Charles Lindbergh's very best friend. Oakes is a tongue in cheek version of WFB himself. The fictional Oakes, a former student at an exclusive English school for boys, had a profligate mother who was divorced from his rich father, an aviation executive and dare devil pilot.
In the story, Oakes praises the real Buckley, notable WFB's first published work “God and Man at Yale”. It is an interesting attempt to breaking the fourth wall, bringing reality into the fiction, but it also displays why Buckley just wasn't cut out to be more than a mildly entertaining fiction writer: he is clearly winking at his audience going for the cheap laugh. But that in itself makes his fiction bearable, because his stories seem to have to no other self awareness within themselves. Oakes never has any doubt about his place in the upper class world he was born into. He doesn't have any friends except for, as his mother calls it, PLUs, People like us. He can't escape his need for his characters to engage in right wing polemics, justifying McCarthyism and political paranoia of the 1950s. The story - someone close to the young Queen of England, (the fictional Caroline, a cousin of the recently deceased Elizabeth II) is feeding the Soviets technical information about the Hydrogen Bomb. The young Queen is bright and unhappy in her role as a symbolic ruler of Britannia, and takes it out on the Prime Minister by questioning him incessantly about the real state of Britain’s defenses, (How many Nuclear Weapons do we have? What is their mega-tonnage?) Oakes is inserted into London's society by the CIA and becomes acquainted with her Majesty and somewhat woodenly solves the problem. I'll leave you to decide what I mean by woodenly.
Buckley is perhaps trying to write a contrary-mirror satire of John LeCarre spy novels, a writer to whom he has elsewhere shown his disdain. Buckley didn't like the moral ambivalence in The Spy who Came in From the Cold or Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy. The West was 100% right to do anything to protect ourselves against Soviet dominion. Since his hero never has any moral doubts, his fiction doesn't really breath.
Buckley is no prig. His alter ego hero Oakes gets laid and drunk with regularity. He has a proper girl back home who he secretly sleeps with, and his prostitutes, (mostly French of course) are happy go luck girls who enjoy their work and live under the dominion of a wise and caring madam. There is no darkness in their lives, at least as far as Oakes is concerned.
In the end, the novel is dated and silly, wrapped up too neatly to take seriously. The premise is brilliant, but in my opinion he flubs it.
I walked next to William F. Buckley in an airport once, and we chatted, and he was very friendly and engaging. It was in the late 70s and I had very long hair, but I told him I loved Firing Line and always read his columns. He laughed and told me, looking at my hair and sensing my leftwardness I suppose, that I wasn't reading them with the correct attitude.
If you read a summary of his ideas today they are shockingly out of synch with even modern conservative principles. He supported white supremacy and was very homophobic. But then he came out for legalization of marijuna in 1965, and strongly condemned Bush the Dumber's war in Iraq in his last years. And he argued fairly and entertainingly, and explored ideas rather than just positions, and people who disagreed with him had a full opportunity to prevail if they could. And sometimes, when watching him, I think fair-minded people would agree they did prevail and he accepted it. Think about FOX News today. They could learn a lot by re-watching old Firing Line shows.
But Saving the Queen is a curiosity for those like myself who were drawn into Buckley's world and want to relive it a little and soak up Buckley's elegant pomposity. But it is not great fiction.
February 24, 2025
I am a huge fan o William F.Buckley. I own nearly all of his books and many more about him and the movement he played such a critical role in building. But re-reading this novel after many years, I have to be honest and say that I am not sure it has aged well. It is a bit verbose in places the sex scene with the Queen is painful. It also could just be that I actually enjoy the type of espionage novel that WFB was seeking to counter, the more gray, noir style. Blackford Oakes is just a little too perfect as a character. Brilliant, attractive, stylish, witty, etc. I have not read any Ian Fleming, but it felt like early James Bond with a more conservative lens.
Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoyed it because I enjoy WFB but I am not sure how it would land for those not enamored of his style and perspective. But it has been along time since I read any Blackford Oakes perhaps I will enjoy more as the series continues.
Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoyed it because I enjoy WFB but I am not sure how it would land for those not enamored of his style and perspective. But it has been along time since I read any Blackford Oakes perhaps I will enjoy more as the series continues.
December 26, 2024
I have been influenced to read the Blackford Oakes series, William F Buckley, Jr, by a stunning list of 125 Spy authors and their work. This list by Tim Shipman, available on YT Spybrary, includes author Buckley. I had to start somewhere so Saving The Queen is it. I am an avid mystery reader but have read few spy novels. This book has forever imprinted the importance of reading literature of all genres.
My conclusion on this first book of the Blackford series is that the author spent significant preparation creating the plot, the characters, linguistics and the desired reader’s satisfaction when writing it. This is not a thriller per se but certainly thrilled me with use of language and smooth transition into tighter and tighter storytelling. My star rating would have been 5 stars but I decided no writer is perfect so my actual rating is 4.8 but that option cannot be clicked in stars.
My conclusion on this first book of the Blackford series is that the author spent significant preparation creating the plot, the characters, linguistics and the desired reader’s satisfaction when writing it. This is not a thriller per se but certainly thrilled me with use of language and smooth transition into tighter and tighter storytelling. My star rating would have been 5 stars but I decided no writer is perfect so my actual rating is 4.8 but that option cannot be clicked in stars.
September 10, 2021
This reader liked but did not love "Saving the Queen". With all respect to the late Mr. Buckley, he was no John le Carre. The origin story of his protagonist, Blackford Oakes, and the eventual case he is assigned are akin to what one, nowadays, would find in a Marvel comic book series. There is very little subtlety here and the character development is on the thin side. It is mainly a plot driven book and some of the plot twists are quite far-fetched and over the top. I doubt I will be continuing with the series. Cheers!
December 11, 2014
In the mid-1970’s, William F. Buckley decided that merely writing a newspaper column three times a week, hosting a weekly television show, and editing a biweekly magazine wasn’t quite enough frenetic activity for him, so he tried his hand at novel writing. Buckley spent two months every winter in Switzerland, and he figured that after skiing in the afternoon he should be able to bang out 1,500 words every day and thus by the end of his “vacation” have a draft of a novel. Since William F. Buckley seemed to have more energy than three people combined, this plan worked. Buckley’s first novel, Saving the Queen, was published in 1976, and it introduced the world to dashing CIA agent Blackford Oakes. Saving the Queen was a success, and Buckley would go on to pen 11 novels featuring Oakes.
Saving the Queen is a decent enough potboiler, but it doesn’t have the tension of great thrillers. Blackford Oakes is just too ridiculously perfect to be very entertaining, and everything falls together much too easily for him. Oakes saves the fictional Queen Caroline of Great Britain, and sleeps with her, all without breaking a sweat. Saving the Queen takes place in 1952, and someone close to the Queen is leaking information about the hydrogen bomb to the Soviets. Oakes’s mission is to find out who the mole is, and he figures that out far too easily, since it’s the only person he meets that is close to the Queen. Oh, and the Queen readily tells Oakes who amongst her inner circle has a suspiciously high curiosity level about the hydrogen bomb. Well, that was easy!
Buckley admitted that he deliberately made Oakes a flawless character, saying in a 1985 interview, “I made Blackford Oakes such a shining perfection to irritate, infuriate the critics, and I scored!” (Conversations with William F. Buckley, p. 91) That’s all well and good, but it makes Oakes a little, well, boring. He never says or does the wrong thing, so we never actually get worried for Oakes. Some critics at the time charged that Oakes was nothing more than an idealized version of William F. Buckley himself, but I don’t think that’s true. Although there are some surface similarities between Oakes and Buckley, they are quite different people. Buckley, who was himself briefly a CIA agent, also deliberately puts the CIA in the best possible light, since it was Buckley’s contention that the CIA was on the side of good, and the Soviets were on the bad side. There are no shades of grey in this book, only black and white. Buckley was writing about the CIA during a rather thorny time in the history of the agency, as the Rockefeller Commission, led by then-Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, was taking an interest in the legality and morality of the CIA’s actions. Even though his novel was set in the past, Buckley felt he had to address the Rockefeller Commission, and he does so in a clunky prologue and epilogue. Despite Buckley’s attempts to put a heroic gloss on the CIA, I found Boris Bolgin, the Russian NKVD agent, to be the most interesting character in the book. Bolgin’s main goals in life are avoiding having to express any political opinions of his own, and to never have his name mentioned to Stalin.
One problem I had with Saving the Queen is that all of the characters talk like William F. Buckley. While that means that everyone is fabulously intelligent and witty, with the vocabulary of an unabridged dictionary, it also means that the characters all sound the same, which makes the book a trifle dull.
Saving the Queen is a moderately entertaining thriller that I would recommend only to William F. Buckley fans or diehard Cold Warriors.
Saving the Queen is a decent enough potboiler, but it doesn’t have the tension of great thrillers. Blackford Oakes is just too ridiculously perfect to be very entertaining, and everything falls together much too easily for him. Oakes saves the fictional Queen Caroline of Great Britain, and sleeps with her, all without breaking a sweat. Saving the Queen takes place in 1952, and someone close to the Queen is leaking information about the hydrogen bomb to the Soviets. Oakes’s mission is to find out who the mole is, and he figures that out far too easily, since it’s the only person he meets that is close to the Queen. Oh, and the Queen readily tells Oakes who amongst her inner circle has a suspiciously high curiosity level about the hydrogen bomb. Well, that was easy!
Buckley admitted that he deliberately made Oakes a flawless character, saying in a 1985 interview, “I made Blackford Oakes such a shining perfection to irritate, infuriate the critics, and I scored!” (Conversations with William F. Buckley, p. 91) That’s all well and good, but it makes Oakes a little, well, boring. He never says or does the wrong thing, so we never actually get worried for Oakes. Some critics at the time charged that Oakes was nothing more than an idealized version of William F. Buckley himself, but I don’t think that’s true. Although there are some surface similarities between Oakes and Buckley, they are quite different people. Buckley, who was himself briefly a CIA agent, also deliberately puts the CIA in the best possible light, since it was Buckley’s contention that the CIA was on the side of good, and the Soviets were on the bad side. There are no shades of grey in this book, only black and white. Buckley was writing about the CIA during a rather thorny time in the history of the agency, as the Rockefeller Commission, led by then-Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, was taking an interest in the legality and morality of the CIA’s actions. Even though his novel was set in the past, Buckley felt he had to address the Rockefeller Commission, and he does so in a clunky prologue and epilogue. Despite Buckley’s attempts to put a heroic gloss on the CIA, I found Boris Bolgin, the Russian NKVD agent, to be the most interesting character in the book. Bolgin’s main goals in life are avoiding having to express any political opinions of his own, and to never have his name mentioned to Stalin.
One problem I had with Saving the Queen is that all of the characters talk like William F. Buckley. While that means that everyone is fabulously intelligent and witty, with the vocabulary of an unabridged dictionary, it also means that the characters all sound the same, which makes the book a trifle dull.
Saving the Queen is a moderately entertaining thriller that I would recommend only to William F. Buckley fans or diehard Cold Warriors.
February 13, 2022
The first book in the Blackford Oakes series reads like a pilot episode of an ongoing series: the main character's background is described along with the mechanics of the situation. In this case the situation is that Blackford Oakes is a new operative for the CIA whose first assignment is to uncover a mole at Buckingham Palace. As spy novels go, this one is more closely aligned with LeCarre than with Fleming. In fact, as LeCarre's books preceded this one (1967) is likely that William Buckley was greatly influenced by LeCarre's works to that point. Buckley exhibits a great knowledge of the inner workings of CIA training, based perhaps on his several years working for the Agency. I don't know whether this can be considered an historical novel since Buckley refers to many historical characters such as Churchill, Stalin and Truman, Allen Dulles, and others along with some revisionist history such as making Rockefeller the vice president of the United States, but uses fictitious characters such as a fictitious Queen Caroline as the British monarch along with other fictitious British royalty. Except for the plot, the rest of the descriptions seem historically accurate, and it is interesting to learn of how things were in the 1950s in the UK (and to a lesser degree in the US and Moscow). Having read some of Buckley's treatises on conservatism and libertarianism, I actually didn't expect much from his fiction, although it has been on my reading list since its appearance. I was pleasantly surprised. Unsurprisingly, he brandishes his vast vocabulary throughout. While the long and somewhat surprising word choices are not as condescending as they sound in his essays, his terminology made me glad I was using Kindle and add the dictionary option and the lookup words I hadn't heard of, or word used differently than I was familiar with. And that is a wonderful thing for a logophile.
I might have found the book to be more appealing because I lived through those times and was familiar with the names, places and incidents cited. But I believe that younger generations might enjoy becoming familiar with the workings of the spy game from the point of view of an American contemporary of James Bond and George Smiley. I know I am going to continue reading the rest of the 11 book series featuring Blackford Oakes.
I might have found the book to be more appealing because I lived through those times and was familiar with the names, places and incidents cited. But I believe that younger generations might enjoy becoming familiar with the workings of the spy game from the point of view of an American contemporary of James Bond and George Smiley. I know I am going to continue reading the rest of the 11 book series featuring Blackford Oakes.
June 18, 2022
I read this the first time in the 70s but rated it a couple years ago when I first joined Goodreads. I remember loving it and gave it a 5 but this time I was quite suspicious of such a high rating while I was only half way through. At that point it was a 3 at best, what with the stilted language, the needless $10 words, it was coming off like Buckley was just showing off rather than entertaining.
The second half seemed like it was written by someone else. It was engrossing, Blackford Oakes was now funny as well as smart and polished. Someone you would really like to get to know much better. And the story really took off ad raced to he finish, defying you to put it down. The slow pace at the beginning gets a pass as Buckley is filling in Oakes background, but the writing there doesn't.
Combining a weak first half and a wonderful 2nd, I give this one a solid 4 stars. They should get better from here.
The second half seemed like it was written by someone else. It was engrossing, Blackford Oakes was now funny as well as smart and polished. Someone you would really like to get to know much better. And the story really took off ad raced to he finish, defying you to put it down. The slow pace at the beginning gets a pass as Buckley is filling in Oakes background, but the writing there doesn't.
Combining a weak first half and a wonderful 2nd, I give this one a solid 4 stars. They should get better from here.
October 14, 2020
After reading the second in the series, I wanted to go back to the origin story of Blackford Oaks. So there is a lot of catching up to do. His youth, bad experience at a Catholic boarding school outside of Windsor, college and girlfriend, and how he got involved with the CIA. His first mission is in London, where his mother and step-father live. His task is establish himself as a wealthy American and make social connections. It seems that there is a leak high up in the British government and the Russians are receiving classified information about a new hydrogen bomb that the Americans are developing. This is were the Queen comes in... Buckley has the previous and pregnant Queen and her sister (Elizabeth and Margaret) die in a plane crash and a new 30-something cousin step into the role and Queen Caroline. Well, Oaks may really fast progress in sinuating himself all the way to Windsor Castle.
Glad i read this first novel in the series. It is supposed to be one of his Buckley's best.
Glad i read this first novel in the series. It is supposed to be one of his Buckley's best.
May 11, 2022
While I didn't agree with his politics when Buckley was the commentator on "Firing Line", I had to admire his intelligence. Buckley's Blackford Oakes novels also display intelligence and knowledge of world affairs. A delightful plus is that his writing is very erudite - I periodically have to look up words. In these first two novels, his plot lines are a tad -- extreme? But still a delight.
These days it sometimes seems that intelligence is shunned in favor of pop culture and that true facts are discounted in favor of emotionally laden "fake facts". In this environment I find Buckley's novels a breath of fresh air.
These days it sometimes seems that intelligence is shunned in favor of pop culture and that true facts are discounted in favor of emotionally laden "fake facts". In this environment I find Buckley's novels a breath of fresh air.
May 8, 2018
Not a great read but a good read. Character development is extensive and becomes somewhat tedious. The storyline is very good and therefore qualifies the book for my recommend list. William Buckley's use of infrequently used words in typical English vocabulary slows down the read and sometimes requires the reader to look up definitions (at least it did me). This is a first book of the Blackford Oakes series and the first in the trilogy from the Blackford Oakes Mysteries Volume 1. On to number 2.
June 1, 2018
At the time I read these novels (the late 1980's and early 1990's), I found them to be pretty good... sort of a cross between Matt Helm and James Bond. Not quite up to Ian Fleming's standards, but not quite as dated by then either.
January 12, 2022
So William F Buckley Jr.
Read it. You will either like it or not. I skipped thru some of it because Buckley can be a trifle wordy. Actually I was able to add a few new words to my vocabulary. I thought the ending was hilarious, loved the book in the end.
Read it. You will either like it or not. I skipped thru some of it because Buckley can be a trifle wordy. Actually I was able to add a few new words to my vocabulary. I thought the ending was hilarious, loved the book in the end.
June 20, 2024
I really enjoyed this semi-autobiographical account of a young man's work with the CIA!
February 26, 2021
Was waaaay too verbose. Liked Buckley for many reasons, besides being an author. The plot and characters were not bad. I suppose this had to be viewed in the era that it was written. Did not flow cleanly. It has been a while since I read a book with a dictionary next to me. Some words I just left without looking up and learning...as they would forever be a stone on the road of my life...just like they were to the story line. Buckley didn't have to impress by using his vocabulary...and what editor would dare remove a gazillion dollar word...and replace it with a mere ten dollar one?
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