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Tommy Hambledon #22
No Entry
"No Entry" by Cyril Henry Coles, Adelaide Frances Oke Manning. Published by Good Press. Good Press publishes a wide range of titles that encompasses every genre. From well-known classics & literary fiction and non-fiction to forgotten−or yet undiscovered gems−of world literature, we issue the books that need to be read. Each Good Press edition has been meticulously edited and formatted to boost readability for all e-readers and devices. Our goal is to produce eBooks that are user-friendly and accessible to everyone in a high-quality digital format.
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1958
9 people are currently reading
25 people want to read
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 - 6 of 6 reviews
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November 28, 2022Return to form for Tommy Hambledon. A diplomat's son wanders over the Iron Curtain and has to be retrieved from East Germany. Wonderfully drawn oppressive atmosphere and sense of place. At this point Tommy would have to be at least 70 by the chronology of book 1, but never mind.
October 7, 2019
It's 1956. In a rural part of Germany somewhere along the guarded border between West and East, a British college student, the son of an important diplomat, has gone missing and it's feared that he may have been taken by the East Germans or Russians. A top British intelligence officer, Tommy Hambledon, is dispatched to find him. So starts a very fine story of espionage cat and mouse, as Hambledon picks his way through the clues and information, improvising and deducing as he goes along. Exciting stuff, cleverly plotted and well presented. Worth reading, if you can find it.
December 19, 2021
Tommy Hambleton spy stories are always good fun, and this one—set on the border between East and West Germany during the Cold War, in which Hambleton has to rescue a hapless Englishman who accidentally wanders across—is quite good. Hambleton is clever, sardonic, hates trigonometry and totalitarianism in a low-key British way, and I love the sequences where he has to impersonate someone.
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October 11, 2025Interesting depiction of life on the border between east and west Germany in 1955.
February 14, 2013
No Entry is one of a series of spy novels featuring Hambledon. In this one Hambledon is sent to rescue the son of an important British official who has wandered into the Soviet zone from a village in Germany. It's a gripping tale that any spy novel enthusiast would highly enjoy. Manning Coles is the pseudonym of two British writers, one of whom served in British Intelligence behind German lines and is said to have drawn on his experiences in crafting the spy novels.
December 7, 2010
This is a book from the cold war...a young British student somehow crosses the border from West Germany into East Germany and a whole spy novel comes out...they must get him back and he has plans for Russians to prevent the West from coming over.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews