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Tommy Hambledon #5
Green Hazard
British secret agent Tommy Hambleton is believed to have been killed in an explosion, but spies inside wartime Germany find out that a famous explosives expert cooperating with the Nazis, is really Hambleton
Paperback
First published January 1, 1945
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About the author
Manning Coles
48 books10 followersFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
Manning Coles is the pseudonym of two British writers, Adelaide Frances Oke Manning (1891–1959) and Cyril Henry Coles (1899–1965), who wrote many spy thrillers from the early 40s through the early 60s. The fictional protagonist in 26 of their books was Thomas Elphinstone Hambledon, who works for the Foreign Office.
Manning and Coles were neighbors in East Meon, Hampshire. Coles worked for British Intelligence in both the World Wars. Manning worked for the War Office during World War I. Their first books were fairly realistic and with a touch of grimness; their postwar books perhaps suffered from an excess of lightheartedness and whimsy. They also wrote a number of humorous novels about modern-day ghosts, some of them involving ghostly cousins named Charles and James Latimer. These novels were published in England under the pseudonym of Francis Gaite but released in the United States under the Manning Coles byline.
Many of the original exploits were based on the real-life experiences of Coles, who lied about his age and enlisted under an assumed name in a Hampshire regiment during World War I while still a teenager. He eventually became the youngest officer in British intelligence, often working behind German lines, due to his extraordinary ability to master languages. Coles had 2 sons (Michael and Peter, who were identical twins and who are both still alive, living in the UK) and the Ghost stories were based on the tales he used to tell his young sons when he was 'back from his travels'.
Manning Coles is the pseudonym of two British writers, Adelaide Frances Oke Manning (1891–1959) and Cyril Henry Coles (1899–1965), who wrote many spy thrillers from the early 40s through the early 60s. The fictional protagonist in 26 of their books was Thomas Elphinstone Hambledon, who works for the Foreign Office.
Manning and Coles were neighbors in East Meon, Hampshire. Coles worked for British Intelligence in both the World Wars. Manning worked for the War Office during World War I. Their first books were fairly realistic and with a touch of grimness; their postwar books perhaps suffered from an excess of lightheartedness and whimsy. They also wrote a number of humorous novels about modern-day ghosts, some of them involving ghostly cousins named Charles and James Latimer. These novels were published in England under the pseudonym of Francis Gaite but released in the United States under the Manning Coles byline.
Many of the original exploits were based on the real-life experiences of Coles, who lied about his age and enlisted under an assumed name in a Hampshire regiment during World War I while still a teenager. He eventually became the youngest officer in British intelligence, often working behind German lines, due to his extraordinary ability to master languages. Coles had 2 sons (Michael and Peter, who were identical twins and who are both still alive, living in the UK) and the Ghost stories were based on the tales he used to tell his young sons when he was 'back from his travels'.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
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November 17, 2022I'm officially obsessed with Manning Coles now. You might not think wartime thrillers would be comfort reading but there's something about these: extremely engaging, with a lot of very hard stuff but our heroes never lose their sense of humour or humanity. Which is probably a big part of the fantasy. Distinctly better than Ian Fleming for that reason--Bond is entirely humourless in the books, and actually, the quips in the films are inhuman--mostly mocking horrible deaths --whereas here, the humour is a way for the agents to keep going, keep friendships alive, and remind themselves people are better than the circumstances might suggest. Albeit not that great: the body count is high and Tommy's sidekick here is scarily ruthless.
This one is set mid-war with Tommy Hambledon posing as an explosives expert, ie tosh but fun. Really vivid description of life in Germany mid war. Half of the writing duo was a professional spy, and it was written in 44, so comes by the the whistling-in-the-dark quality honestly.
This one is set mid-war with Tommy Hambledon posing as an explosives expert, ie tosh but fun. Really vivid description of life in Germany mid war. Half of the writing duo was a professional spy, and it was written in 44, so comes by the the whistling-in-the-dark quality honestly.
June 22, 2020
This 5th entry in the Tommy Hambledon series had a lot of echoes from the second book (A Toast to Tomorrow). I was glued to the book from the very start!
January 5, 2011
Many years ago someone introduced me to the "spy" novels of Manning Coles; this name is actually the pseudonym for two British authors, Manning and Coles. According to Wikipedia, Coles had worked for British Intelligence in both World Wars, & Manning had worked for the War Office during World War I. Anyway, I put "spy" in quotes because these stories have a British insouciance that makes them hard to take seriously. As one comment says, "Exciting & frequently hilarious." Recently I came upon my copies of a few of these books & decided to re-read one, to see if I still enjoyed it. I did!
May 18, 2021
I'm working my way through a stack of Manning Coles novels featuring his spy/intelliegence operative Tommy Hambledon. In this outing, Hambledon's mission is a 1941 excursion to investigate a chemical engineer attempting to create a new, powerful explosive. But the mission goes awry when the engineer proves to be a fraud, and Hambledon is caught in the fraudster's escape plans.
Tommy finds he has been collected in mistake for the Her Professor, and carried into Germany to work on his explosive on behalf of the Third Reich. Aside from the risk of being discovered to know nothing at all about chemistry, let alone explosives, Tommy has a past history with certain members of the Reich's leaders, including Goering and Goebbels.
Nevertheless, Tommy dives with enthusiasm into the game of using his unexpected position to work sabotage and gather information to help the Allies. All seems to be going well... until the fraudulent professor also turns up in Berlin. Now Tommy is in a race to conclude his sabotage and make his escape without being exposed as a British spy.
The Hambledon stories of the Worl War II era are a sort of boys'-own-adventures version of James Bond. They're less serious and sillier in many ways, but enjoyable all the same. This is one of the better outings I've read.
My edition was published by The Blakiston Company, Philadelphia, for Triangle Books with Doubleday, Doran and company, Inc., (c) 1945. No slip cover.
Tommy finds he has been collected in mistake for the Her Professor, and carried into Germany to work on his explosive on behalf of the Third Reich. Aside from the risk of being discovered to know nothing at all about chemistry, let alone explosives, Tommy has a past history with certain members of the Reich's leaders, including Goering and Goebbels.
Nevertheless, Tommy dives with enthusiasm into the game of using his unexpected position to work sabotage and gather information to help the Allies. All seems to be going well... until the fraudulent professor also turns up in Berlin. Now Tommy is in a race to conclude his sabotage and make his escape without being exposed as a British spy.
The Hambledon stories of the Worl War II era are a sort of boys'-own-adventures version of James Bond. They're less serious and sillier in many ways, but enjoyable all the same. This is one of the better outings I've read.
My edition was published by The Blakiston Company, Philadelphia, for Triangle Books with Doubleday, Doran and company, Inc., (c) 1945. No slip cover.
April 7, 2020
A spy novel written in 1945, featuring a British intelligence agent who finds himself having to impersonate a chemist working for the Nazis (despite knowing no chemistry). A fascinating book which combines a great deal of dry humor with unsettlingly realistic Nazis, from the historical figures of Goering and Goebbels to a variety of more banally evil people. The tone thus veers wildly from Bondesque wit to simple, brutal murder and thuggery in a way that was offputting but oddly satisfying. The hero interacts with an assortment of people who have suffered at the Nazis’ hands, and he’s bewildered and a little frightened by their vehement desire to revenge themselves—“Oh, to be in London where people don’t hate so wholeheartedly,” he thinks at one point. I definitely get the impression that the authors intended the readers to empathize more with the other characters, so it made for a very interesting tension in the book.
June 21, 2020
WW II spy tale. Quite good.
Very good story-telling. Clever plot. The authors (2) don't waste time describing rooms and countryside. Much of the story is told through the dialogue of the characters. The book also has a good deal of subtle British humor. Good light read.
Very good story-telling. Clever plot. The authors (2) don't waste time describing rooms and countryside. Much of the story is told through the dialogue of the characters. The book also has a good deal of subtle British humor. Good light read.
September 2, 2021
This is a 'generally' fun historical mystery... full of biases and humorous errors. In large part these stem from the fact that the book was written during WW2. Naturally this British author had a few biases his audience would have expected.
January 14, 2009
Manning Coles' main character/spy/sleuth is Tommy Hambledon, always faces various scary challenges with satirical humor alongside an absolute devotion to King and country. In Green Hazard, when Tommy is working as a British spy in Nazi Germany, news reaches British HQ that he has been killed in a chemical explosion. Or has he? Read on . . .
(I'm happy to note that this entertaining 1945 novel was republished in paperback in 2008.)
April 8, 2015
Yeah, this is a creepy cover. And, yeah, the brilliant writing team of Cyril Henry Coles and Adelaide Frances Oke Manning did perhaps lean a little heavily on the hook of mistaken identity.
But if this is the weakest hook, the series itself is amazing. Somebody should reissue it!
But if this is the weakest hook, the series itself is amazing. Somebody should reissue it!
March 31, 2011
Tommy in Berlin, blasting away
June 15, 2017
For my full review click on the link below:
https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress...
https://crossexaminingcrime.wordpress...
October 21, 2015
Enjoyable entry in the series. Great sense of time and place: Berlin, 1941. Goebbels and Goering both play key roles.
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June 12, 2021a bit dull in terms of characters and description but you gotta love a plot about British spies tricking the Nazis during WWII and sabotaging them from the inside 🤘
May 19, 2015
Tommy Hambledon is good.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews