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The Spy Paramount
E. Phillips Oppenheim was one of the greatest writers of spy fiction, known in his time as the Prince of Storytellers. To launch their Spy Classics series, the British Library is proud to introduce Oppenheim and his classic work to a new reading public.
The Spy Paramount takes us to Rome, 1934. American Martin Fawley, a former secret service agent, is recruited as a spy by General Berati, the most feared man in fascist Italy. Going undercover to Monte Carlo, Fawley travels in a world of casinos and cocktails, high stakes and secrecy―and discovers the secret weapon that could determine the outcome of the looming world war.
The Spy Paramount takes us to Rome, 1934. American Martin Fawley, a former secret service agent, is recruited as a spy by General Berati, the most feared man in fascist Italy. Going undercover to Monte Carlo, Fawley travels in a world of casinos and cocktails, high stakes and secrecy―and discovers the secret weapon that could determine the outcome of the looming world war.
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1934
11 people are currently reading
81 people want to read
About the author
E. Phillips Oppenheim
628 books80 followersEdward Phillips Oppenheim was an English novelist, primarily known for his suspense fiction.
He was born in Leicester, the son of a leather merchant, and after attending Wyggeston Grammar School he worked in his father's business for almost 20 years, beginning there at a young age. He continued working in the business, even though he was a successful novelist, until he was 40 at which point he sold the business.
He wrote his first book 'Expiation' in 1887 and in 1898 he published 'The Mysterious Mr Sabin', which he described as "The first of my long series of stories dealing with that shadowy and mysterious world of diplomacy." Thereafter he became a prolific writer and by 1900 he had had 14 novels published.
While on a business trip to the United States in 1890 he met and married Elise Clara Hopkins of Boston and, on return to England, they lived in Evington, Leicestershire until the First World War,and had one daughter. His wife remained faithful to him throughout his life despite his frequent and highly publicised affairs, which often took place abroad and aboard his luxury yacht.
During World War I Oppenheim worked for the Ministry of Information while continuing to write his suspenseful novels.
He featured on the cover of 'Time' magazine on 12 September 1927 and he was the self-styled 'Prince of Storytellers', a title used by Robert standish for his biography of the author.
His literary success enabled him to buy a villa in France and a yacht, spending his winters in France where he regularly entertained more than 250 people at his lavish parties and where he was a well-known figure in high society.
He later purchased a house, Le Vanquiédor in St. Peter Port, in Guernsey. He lost access to the house during the Second World War when Germany occupied the Channel Islands but later regained it.
He wrote 116 novels, mainly of the suspense and international intrigue type, but including romances, comedies, and parables of everyday life, and 39 volumes of short stories, all of which earned him vast sums of money. He also wrote five novels under the pseudonymn Anthony Partridge and a volume of autobiography, 'The Pool of Memory' in 1939.
He is generally regarded as the earliest writer of spy fiction as we know it today, and invented the 'Rogue Male' school of adventure thrillers that was later exploited by John Buchan and Geoffrey Household.
Undoubtedly his most renowned work was 'The Great Impersonation' (1920), which was filmed three times, the last time as a strong piece of wartime propaganda in 1942. In that novel the plot hinges around two very similar looking gentlemen, one from Britain and the other from Germany, in the early part of the 20th century. Overall more than 30 of his works were made into films.
Perhaps his most enduring creation is the character of General Besserley, the protagonist of 'General Besserley's Puzzle Box' and 'General Besserley's New Puzzle Box'.
Much of his work possesses a unique escapist charm, featuring protagonists who delight in Epicurean meals, surroundings of intense luxury, and the relaxed pursuit of criminal practice, on either side of the law.
Gerry Wolstenholme
He was born in Leicester, the son of a leather merchant, and after attending Wyggeston Grammar School he worked in his father's business for almost 20 years, beginning there at a young age. He continued working in the business, even though he was a successful novelist, until he was 40 at which point he sold the business.
He wrote his first book 'Expiation' in 1887 and in 1898 he published 'The Mysterious Mr Sabin', which he described as "The first of my long series of stories dealing with that shadowy and mysterious world of diplomacy." Thereafter he became a prolific writer and by 1900 he had had 14 novels published.
While on a business trip to the United States in 1890 he met and married Elise Clara Hopkins of Boston and, on return to England, they lived in Evington, Leicestershire until the First World War,and had one daughter. His wife remained faithful to him throughout his life despite his frequent and highly publicised affairs, which often took place abroad and aboard his luxury yacht.
During World War I Oppenheim worked for the Ministry of Information while continuing to write his suspenseful novels.
He featured on the cover of 'Time' magazine on 12 September 1927 and he was the self-styled 'Prince of Storytellers', a title used by Robert standish for his biography of the author.
His literary success enabled him to buy a villa in France and a yacht, spending his winters in France where he regularly entertained more than 250 people at his lavish parties and where he was a well-known figure in high society.
He later purchased a house, Le Vanquiédor in St. Peter Port, in Guernsey. He lost access to the house during the Second World War when Germany occupied the Channel Islands but later regained it.
He wrote 116 novels, mainly of the suspense and international intrigue type, but including romances, comedies, and parables of everyday life, and 39 volumes of short stories, all of which earned him vast sums of money. He also wrote five novels under the pseudonymn Anthony Partridge and a volume of autobiography, 'The Pool of Memory' in 1939.
He is generally regarded as the earliest writer of spy fiction as we know it today, and invented the 'Rogue Male' school of adventure thrillers that was later exploited by John Buchan and Geoffrey Household.
Undoubtedly his most renowned work was 'The Great Impersonation' (1920), which was filmed three times, the last time as a strong piece of wartime propaganda in 1942. In that novel the plot hinges around two very similar looking gentlemen, one from Britain and the other from Germany, in the early part of the 20th century. Overall more than 30 of his works were made into films.
Perhaps his most enduring creation is the character of General Besserley, the protagonist of 'General Besserley's Puzzle Box' and 'General Besserley's New Puzzle Box'.
Much of his work possesses a unique escapist charm, featuring protagonists who delight in Epicurean meals, surroundings of intense luxury, and the relaxed pursuit of criminal practice, on either side of the law.
Gerry Wolstenholme
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
December 17, 2014
I quite enjoyed this bad novel, perhaps more because of than despite its faults. It's various terriblnesses give it a kind of dopy charm, a sense of innocent old-fashionedness.
The Spy Paramount is a relic of a more innocent pre-war age when the full horror of what modern civilised people might be capable of was still unimaginable. By the end it had almost won me over with its misplaced confidence in the future, its naive assumption of the basic sanity and decency of humankind.
Before the British Library revived it in its attractive Spy Classics line, this 1935 spy yarn had been unavailable in a mass market edition since 1941. I'm surprised it lasted that long. Hindsight has made The Spy Paramount ridiculous. Even in 1935, basic knowledge of current events must have made it a bit silly. By 1941 British readers must have howled with laughter.
(And yet--I've just read some reviews published in Australian newspapers in 1935, at the excellent trove.nla.gov.au web site. All that I looked at were enthusiastic and only one showed the slightest indication that its notion of international politics was absurd: 'It occurs to the reader that prevention of the Italo-Abyssinian war would have been child's play to this daring and tactful adventurer,' said RLH in the Perth Daily News.)
The novel's German politics come from a parallel world without Hitler, where a power struggle between various factions is still under way in Germany. And yet in amongst all these fictitious power strugglers, one real man, Hindenburg, is unaccountably name-checked from time to time. Contemporary readers may also have scratched their heads at the coy avoidance of the name of the Italian spy chief's boss, i.e. Mussolini, when this was fairly common knowledge. Perhaps Oppenheim was concerned that in a volatile world his novel could be made obsolete in a flash if Hitler or Mussolini were deposed. Who knew these guys would still be around years after the novel fell out of print?
I was never much convinced by the hero's spy activities. Like James Bond, who is said to have been influenced by this novel, his job involves romancing princesses, wearing tuxedos, drinking cocktails and riding in yachts. His one broadly 'real' piece of spy action, when he breaks into a top secret military facility, is too underwritten to seem plausible or exciting.
The prose style clunked, never reaching Dan Brown levels of badness, of course, but still surprisingly poor for a writer who'd been successful for decades. Too many adjectives. Too many reiterations of unnecessary character descriptions. Scenes that might make the heart race are defused and distanced from the reader by circumlocution and the piling on of breathless clauses. There's too much 'telling', virtually no attempt at immersion. Here's an example, possibly the worst sentence in the book:
The hero was being taken to see the general, so it's hard to see how being ushered into his presence could be any kind of surprise. Also, he works for the general, so even if the surprise came when he was told, in the previous chapter, that he was being taken to see him again, how could this possibly be unexpected? And why tell us he's the most dreaded man in Rome - we only saw him a few pages ago, we remember him! This sentence is so wrong it's weird, bordering on parody of bad Boy's Own adventure fiction.
Perhaps the very weirdest thing in the novel is the minor character of Patoni, established from the start as a creepy-looking pop-eyed freak, who suddenly shows up again after a long absence to declare that the hero's girlfriend is his cousin and his ex and therefore he must kill the hero. And then he's never seen again. Such pains are taken to establish him as the crazy villain who'll fight the hero to the death in the last scene, that his failure to reappear on cue feels like a hole in the story. Saved for the sequel, perhaps.
The Spy Paramount is a relic of a more innocent pre-war age when the full horror of what modern civilised people might be capable of was still unimaginable. By the end it had almost won me over with its misplaced confidence in the future, its naive assumption of the basic sanity and decency of humankind.
'The most reckless military fanatic who ever breathed, Herr Behrling, would never dare to sacrifice the whole youth of his country in an unequal struggle to gain--God knows what.'
Before the British Library revived it in its attractive Spy Classics line, this 1935 spy yarn had been unavailable in a mass market edition since 1941. I'm surprised it lasted that long. Hindsight has made The Spy Paramount ridiculous. Even in 1935, basic knowledge of current events must have made it a bit silly. By 1941 British readers must have howled with laughter.
(And yet--I've just read some reviews published in Australian newspapers in 1935, at the excellent trove.nla.gov.au web site. All that I looked at were enthusiastic and only one showed the slightest indication that its notion of international politics was absurd: 'It occurs to the reader that prevention of the Italo-Abyssinian war would have been child's play to this daring and tactful adventurer,' said RLH in the Perth Daily News.)
The novel's German politics come from a parallel world without Hitler, where a power struggle between various factions is still under way in Germany. And yet in amongst all these fictitious power strugglers, one real man, Hindenburg, is unaccountably name-checked from time to time. Contemporary readers may also have scratched their heads at the coy avoidance of the name of the Italian spy chief's boss, i.e. Mussolini, when this was fairly common knowledge. Perhaps Oppenheim was concerned that in a volatile world his novel could be made obsolete in a flash if Hitler or Mussolini were deposed. Who knew these guys would still be around years after the novel fell out of print?
I was never much convinced by the hero's spy activities. Like James Bond, who is said to have been influenced by this novel, his job involves romancing princesses, wearing tuxedos, drinking cocktails and riding in yachts. His one broadly 'real' piece of spy action, when he breaks into a top secret military facility, is too underwritten to seem plausible or exciting.
The prose style clunked, never reaching Dan Brown levels of badness, of course, but still surprisingly poor for a writer who'd been successful for decades. Too many adjectives. Too many reiterations of unnecessary character descriptions. Scenes that might make the heart race are defused and distanced from the reader by circumlocution and the piling on of breathless clauses. There's too much 'telling', virtually no attempt at immersion. Here's an example, possibly the worst sentence in the book:
In a life full of surprises Martin Fawley was inclined to doubt whether he ever received a greater one than when, for the second time during the same day, he was ushered into the presence of General Berati, the most dreaded man in Rome.
The hero was being taken to see the general, so it's hard to see how being ushered into his presence could be any kind of surprise. Also, he works for the general, so even if the surprise came when he was told, in the previous chapter, that he was being taken to see him again, how could this possibly be unexpected? And why tell us he's the most dreaded man in Rome - we only saw him a few pages ago, we remember him! This sentence is so wrong it's weird, bordering on parody of bad Boy's Own adventure fiction.
Perhaps the very weirdest thing in the novel is the minor character of Patoni, established from the start as a creepy-looking pop-eyed freak, who suddenly shows up again after a long absence to declare that the hero's girlfriend is his cousin and his ex and therefore he must kill the hero. And then he's never seen again. Such pains are taken to establish him as the crazy villain who'll fight the hero to the death in the last scene, that his failure to reappear on cue feels like a hole in the story. Saved for the sequel, perhaps.
November 3, 2016
A wonderful old fashioned spy story set in the 1930's.
It would be great if authors would go back to writing this type of story without all the extraneous, to my mind unnecessary fillers that abound in some stories. Think Ian Flemming without hi tech and CGI.
Yet another British Library Classic, read it.
Very highly recommended.
I was given a digital copy of this book by the publisher Poisoned Pen Press via Netgalley in return for an honest unbiased review.
It would be great if authors would go back to writing this type of story without all the extraneous, to my mind unnecessary fillers that abound in some stories. Think Ian Flemming without hi tech and CGI.
Yet another British Library Classic, read it.
Very highly recommended.
I was given a digital copy of this book by the publisher Poisoned Pen Press via Netgalley in return for an honest unbiased review.
May 18, 2017
Speravo di trovarmi tra le mani un buon romanzo storico a base di spionaggio e invece questo libro è un guazzabuglio di incredibili sciocchezze, che dimostra come la fantasia non supportata da una minima base di ricerca storica non serva a niente, che vivere a ridosso dei fatti che si intende romanzare non aiuta, se questi fatti non li si conosce e che cercare di prendere a protagonista un superuomo non serva ad altro che a rendere noiosa la narrazione.
Così tra un'Italia, una Francia e una Germania uscite dritte dritte da un'operetta, armi di distruzione di massa degne di Jules Verne e una protagonista femminile che sembra affetta da schizofrenia acuta, il romanzo si trascina stancamente verso la fine, e lo si legge solo sperando in un colpo d'ala dell'ultimo momento, che, purtroppo, non arriva.
Due stelline perché la copertina è molto bella.
Ringrazio British Library e Netgalley per avermi fornito una copia gratuita in cambio di una recensione onesta.
I was hoping to have in my hands a good historical spy-tale and instead this book is a bang of incredible nonsense, that shows how the fantasy unsupported by a minimum of historical research does not serve anything, to live close to the facts intended to fiction does not help, if these facts are not known to you and that trying to take a superhuman as a protagonist can only make the narration boring.
So, between a Italy, a France and a Germany straight out of a operetta, weapons of mass destruction worthy of Jules Verne and a female protagonist who seems to be suffering from acute schizophrenia, the novel drags wearily towards the end, and you read it just hoping for a last-minute stroke, which, unfortunately, does not arrive.
Two stars because the cover is very beautiful.
I thank British Library and Netgalley for giving me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
Così tra un'Italia, una Francia e una Germania uscite dritte dritte da un'operetta, armi di distruzione di massa degne di Jules Verne e una protagonista femminile che sembra affetta da schizofrenia acuta, il romanzo si trascina stancamente verso la fine, e lo si legge solo sperando in un colpo d'ala dell'ultimo momento, che, purtroppo, non arriva.
Due stelline perché la copertina è molto bella.
Ringrazio British Library e Netgalley per avermi fornito una copia gratuita in cambio di una recensione onesta.
I was hoping to have in my hands a good historical spy-tale and instead this book is a bang of incredible nonsense, that shows how the fantasy unsupported by a minimum of historical research does not serve anything, to live close to the facts intended to fiction does not help, if these facts are not known to you and that trying to take a superhuman as a protagonist can only make the narration boring.
So, between a Italy, a France and a Germany straight out of a operetta, weapons of mass destruction worthy of Jules Verne and a female protagonist who seems to be suffering from acute schizophrenia, the novel drags wearily towards the end, and you read it just hoping for a last-minute stroke, which, unfortunately, does not arrive.
Two stars because the cover is very beautiful.
I thank British Library and Netgalley for giving me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
May 18, 2021
A very light, enjoyable spy novel set in the 30's--where a maverick American spy combines with a lovely Italian princess to reach a pact never to go to war again, signed by 5 key nations: Italy, France, Germany, the UK and the USA. The book is somewhat redolent of the tragedy of WWI and the (already) rising up of the next possible war--along Clausewitz's lines. Through a series of hostile encounters among top statesmen with the independent spy, we see that a timely revelation of a devastating (fictitious) weapon and the willingness of some of the nations (especially those with the least to win in a war) to agree not to pursue war could lead to the execution of the mutual non-aggression pact. In real life, of course, the Kellogg Briand pact was a regrettable failure. Despite the relatively 2 dimensional characters in the book, Oppenheim managed to keep the book moving as it comes to its wonderful if unfortunately improbable conclusion.
July 17, 2024
This book was written in 1935 after all. Anything higher than a 3 star wouldn’t fit. I almost gave it 2 stars. If this is this the series that inspired Ian Fleming to make 007 books and movies, then he had a great imagination. Even Disney would have spiced up this book. The only reason I read it all is because it was a blind date with a book that I set the intention I would finish whatever book it was.
May 6, 2021
A rollicking classic spy thriller, it had a great start and a good twist but pacing towards the end was a little stilted.
Still, great cast of characters, old school intrigue and a debonair protagonist that was great fun to follow!
Still, great cast of characters, old school intrigue and a debonair protagonist that was great fun to follow!
February 6, 2017
Started out well. Thought it was in the style and time period of Her Royal Spyness but veered into the realm of scifi by the time I finished.
Want to read
April 19, 2021Note: I received a digital review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.
December 9, 2016
Martin Fawley can easily be seen as an early precursor to James Bond - Debonair, quick witted, and unashamedly a spy. He is definitely a professional.
Readers should remember this book was originally published before the onset of WWII and is set against the volatile political backdrop of 1930s Europe. I had some initial misgivings as Fawley is employed by the Italian government, but I put them aside. The Spy Paramount is political but apolitical. I say that because politics play an important role, but the details of what the different groups stand for does not. I was glad I set aside my prejudices because The Spy Paramount is truly a good story.
While there is no "Bond villain" there is plenty of action and intrigue, as well as a beautiful and compelling love interest who has dangerous connections. The Spy Paramount has the charm of a Sean Connery film without quite so many deaths or explosions. It is lighter fare than the spy novels currently in vogue, but nonetheless remains appealing despite its age.
4/5
I received a copy of The Spy Paramount from the publisher and netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.
--Crittermom
Readers should remember this book was originally published before the onset of WWII and is set against the volatile political backdrop of 1930s Europe. I had some initial misgivings as Fawley is employed by the Italian government, but I put them aside. The Spy Paramount is political but apolitical. I say that because politics play an important role, but the details of what the different groups stand for does not. I was glad I set aside my prejudices because The Spy Paramount is truly a good story.
While there is no "Bond villain" there is plenty of action and intrigue, as well as a beautiful and compelling love interest who has dangerous connections. The Spy Paramount has the charm of a Sean Connery film without quite so many deaths or explosions. It is lighter fare than the spy novels currently in vogue, but nonetheless remains appealing despite its age.
4/5
I received a copy of The Spy Paramount from the publisher and netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.
--Crittermom
May 29, 2010
[These notes were made in 1981.:] Source - Robarts. Finished - June 17/81. Oppenheim is always good for a light read - his heroes (in this case, a super-spy, freelancing in the interests of world peace) are variations on the strong, silent type who falls at last and therefore very heavily in love. The plot of this one is, alas, a trifle too idealistic (world peace forever, tho' achieved by exciting and somewhat dubious means) for modern cynical tastes. The fact that the whole thing is set in Germany/Italy/France is especially ironic (note the 1935 publication date), more particularly since there is a character who might well be an early-stages Hitler. A piece of pre-war wishful thinking, then, but rather a good yarn, all the same.
July 11, 2016
An espionage thriller in which Martin Fawley, a retired major in the US army, takes on some independent information gathering work for the Italians in the mid 1930s. He travels to Rome, Paris, Berlin, and London, collecting useful knowledge, not so much for any country, but rather in the name of world peace. He has been through war once and doesn't want it to happen again. There are beautiful women, balls, attempted assassinations, fantastically destructive weapons, and lots of other skullduggery. The novel is like an early James Bond, but rather tedious.
May 23, 2015
Rather old fashioned in writing style, as such it is rather difficult to read. However it is very interesting as social context, plus its obvious how much influence Fawley must have had on the gentleman spy genre. Also I can imagine the Italy/France/German politics was very close to the bone at the time.
[NB I can't find Martin as a name sexy or rugged!]
[NB I can't find Martin as a name sexy or rugged!]
November 25, 2014
A meandering fantasy of a spy story. In many ways it reads like a collection of clichés, largely because these were paths well-trodden by later writers. It's rescued by its underlying, rather naïve, idealism.
I like E. Phillips Oppenheim's books but sadly this isn't one of his real gems.
I like E. Phillips Oppenheim's books but sadly this isn't one of his real gems.
April 6, 2015
A fun, quick read. Our main character is full of stereotypes. Strong, handsome, smart, the perfect spy.
One can imagine Flemming reading these as a child and later borrowing the archetype for Bond.
One can imagine Flemming reading these as a child and later borrowing the archetype for Bond.
April 11, 2016
A somewhat pacifist spy novel that taps into the Zeitgeist of early to mid 1930s Europe and delivers a fun thriller. A lesser known to modern readers than his contemporary Eric Ambler, but it is obvious he was influential to the spy fiction of Ian Fleming and other post war espionage novelists.
May 5, 2008
A classic espionage thriller by the author of The Great Impersonation.
April 6, 2015
More Worricker than Bond.
July 11, 2015
A fast paced boys own adventure.
April 8, 2016
A period book, beginning of 20th Century. Travels to Monte Carlo, Berlin, Switzerland, London, Italy.
May 13, 2016
read some time in 1991
May 3, 2017
The appeal of this novel is lost on me - Is there a golf, ridiculous descriptions of women, shady and powerful men, and a super weapon? Yes, but the plot is a horrible mess, the dialogue is embarrassing, the descriptions of (then) exotic locales is terrible, and the main character even more of a cipher than can be forgiven. A hard pass on this one.
I received an ecopy from the publishers and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I received an ecopy from the publishers and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews