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Bulldog Drummond #8
Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back
Colecção Vampiro nº 5
(Herman) Cyril McNeile MC (September 28, 1888 - August 14, 1937[1]) was a British author, who published under the pen name Sapper.
He was one of the most successful British popular authors of the Interwar period; his principal character was Bulldog Drummond.
(Herman) Cyril McNeile MC (September 28, 1888 - August 14, 1937[1]) was a British author, who published under the pen name Sapper.
He was one of the most successful British popular authors of the Interwar period; his principal character was Bulldog Drummond.
310 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1933
7 people are currently reading
46 people want to read
About the author
Sapper
267 books37 followersSapper was the pseudonym of Herman Cyril McNeile, whose father was Malcolm McNeile, a Captain in the Royal Navy and, at who was at the time, governor of the naval prison at Bodmin, the town where Herman was born.
McNeile was educated at Cheltenham College and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich and was commissioned into the Royal Engineers in 1907. He went to France in 1914 when World War I broke out and he saw action at both the First and the Second Battle of Ypres where he displayed considerable bravery, was awarded the Military Cross and was mentioned in dispatches.
His first known published work was a series of short war stories based on his own experiences, and published under the name 'Sapper' in the Daily Mail and in the magazine 'The War Illustrated'.
These stories were immediately successful and later sold over 200,000 copies within a year when subsequently republished in book-form. His realistic writing proved most popular at a time of great stress and Lord Northcliff, the owner of the Daily Mail who recognised his talent, was so impressed by that he attempted, but failed, to have McNeile released from the army so he could work as a war correspondent.
After the War was over, in 1919, McNeile resigned from the army with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and became a full-time author, publishing his first novel, Mufti, in that year.
In 1922, he moved to Sussex and lived there for the rest of his life, having married Peggy Baird-Douglas with whom he had two sons.
He began the series for which he now best remembered, that of Hugh 'Bulldog' Drummond in 1920 and thereafter he wrote 10 novels featuring his eponymous hero. The public took to Drummond and McNeile had great financial success.
The first book was adapted for the stage and produced, to great success, at Wyndham's Theatre during the 1921-1922 season with Gerald du Maurier playing the main character. Films followed and the first talkie BullDog Drummond film in 1922 was reputed to have earned McNeile the vast sum of $750,000. There were 26 films made of his books.
As well as Drummond, he wrote about Ronald Standish but the majority of his work was short stories that were published in various popular monthly magazines and continued to earn him good money. Indeed, in addition to his novels, many of his books were short story collections.
He was reputedly an unremittingly hearty man, who even his good friend and collaborator Gerard Fairlie, who continued the Drummond series after McNeile's death with seven further books, described as "not everybody's cup of tea". He died on August 14, 1937 at his home in Pulborough, West Sussex.
His funeral, with full military honours, took place at Woking crematorium.
Gerry Wolstenholme
May 2010
McNeile was educated at Cheltenham College and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich and was commissioned into the Royal Engineers in 1907. He went to France in 1914 when World War I broke out and he saw action at both the First and the Second Battle of Ypres where he displayed considerable bravery, was awarded the Military Cross and was mentioned in dispatches.
His first known published work was a series of short war stories based on his own experiences, and published under the name 'Sapper' in the Daily Mail and in the magazine 'The War Illustrated'.
These stories were immediately successful and later sold over 200,000 copies within a year when subsequently republished in book-form. His realistic writing proved most popular at a time of great stress and Lord Northcliff, the owner of the Daily Mail who recognised his talent, was so impressed by that he attempted, but failed, to have McNeile released from the army so he could work as a war correspondent.
After the War was over, in 1919, McNeile resigned from the army with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and became a full-time author, publishing his first novel, Mufti, in that year.
In 1922, he moved to Sussex and lived there for the rest of his life, having married Peggy Baird-Douglas with whom he had two sons.
He began the series for which he now best remembered, that of Hugh 'Bulldog' Drummond in 1920 and thereafter he wrote 10 novels featuring his eponymous hero. The public took to Drummond and McNeile had great financial success.
The first book was adapted for the stage and produced, to great success, at Wyndham's Theatre during the 1921-1922 season with Gerald du Maurier playing the main character. Films followed and the first talkie BullDog Drummond film in 1922 was reputed to have earned McNeile the vast sum of $750,000. There were 26 films made of his books.
As well as Drummond, he wrote about Ronald Standish but the majority of his work was short stories that were published in various popular monthly magazines and continued to earn him good money. Indeed, in addition to his novels, many of his books were short story collections.
He was reputedly an unremittingly hearty man, who even his good friend and collaborator Gerard Fairlie, who continued the Drummond series after McNeile's death with seven further books, described as "not everybody's cup of tea". He died on August 14, 1937 at his home in Pulborough, West Sussex.
His funeral, with full military honours, took place at Woking crematorium.
Gerry Wolstenholme
May 2010
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
April 11, 2025
Ronald Standish and Bill Leyton literally have a run-in with Hugh "Bulldog" Drummond and his friend Peter Darrel. After clearing the air they will join forces, first to discover the body of a man who was on the phone with Standisch when he was murdered, and later to find the murderer and bring him to justice.
Soon they will discover that the murder is just a little cog in a much bigger criminal schema. A small group of supects is found out about and soon the four amateur detectives will be head-to-head with the criminals, the risk is death.
An actress who is as beautiful as she is famous and a highly respected upper-class doctor are the first identified on the list of supects. This list will continue to grow as the size of the uncovered plot becomes more and more impressive.
The future of England is once more at stake.
High speed car chases form an exciting part of the story, fights - to the death - another.
Female beauty is added by the secretary of the evil actress.
A cipher will play a major part in the conclusion of this story, and before it is explained keeps its secret well hidden and hence the attention of the reader focused.
The books with Bulldog Drummond containt quite a bit of violence and that is not different in this book. At a certain moment Drummond and Standisch are even blown up when a bomb is planted in their room. The finer detective work is concentrated in the thoughts of the main characters, the bulk of the book is dedicated to action, sometimes violent.
At the end, to win or to loose, will be defined by the ultimate confrontation between Drummond and criminal master brain Domenico.
Soon they will discover that the murder is just a little cog in a much bigger criminal schema. A small group of supects is found out about and soon the four amateur detectives will be head-to-head with the criminals, the risk is death.
An actress who is as beautiful as she is famous and a highly respected upper-class doctor are the first identified on the list of supects. This list will continue to grow as the size of the uncovered plot becomes more and more impressive.
The future of England is once more at stake.
High speed car chases form an exciting part of the story, fights - to the death - another.
Female beauty is added by the secretary of the evil actress.
A cipher will play a major part in the conclusion of this story, and before it is explained keeps its secret well hidden and hence the attention of the reader focused.
The books with Bulldog Drummond containt quite a bit of violence and that is not different in this book. At a certain moment Drummond and Standisch are even blown up when a bomb is planted in their room. The finer detective work is concentrated in the thoughts of the main characters, the bulk of the book is dedicated to action, sometimes violent.
At the end, to win or to loose, will be defined by the ultimate confrontation between Drummond and criminal master brain Domenico.
November 15, 2018
a.k.a. Knock-out;read some time in 1979
February 3, 2026
Let's just give the author the benefit of the doubt. These seem so easy to write because he's an expert writer. Right?
Amateur detective Ronald Standish gets a phone call from his friend Sanderson rings him up and then, mysteriously, dies. Standish and his other friend, Bill Leyton, hightail it around to Sanderson's place, there to discover Sanderson's lifeless body which has been fatally stabbed in the eye.
In turn, they are discovered by Bulldog Drummond and his friends, and both groups, once introductions have been made, are embroiled in a plot that starts off making sense but pretty soon leaves that alone and just rolls on until the end.
There are a few atmospheric moments:
and
Nothing says 'evil' like cruelty to animals.
Well, evil is vanquished with only minimal interaction with the police and all ends with witty English banter, so that's something. But the mystery is solved with no detection on the part of Standish, and not many fights involving Drummond. A character appears that almost but not quite kills Drummond, nut they're never even introduced, let alone explained. And, once the reason for all these shenanigans is revealed, it's revealed in a conversation at Peter Darrell's club. So what was all the rest in aid of?
If you're following along with the adventures of the 'Froth Blowers', you'll be happy to discover that Peter Darrell gets the girl.
Read these to learn how they're done. The author got pretty damn rich doing them a hundred years ago, so maybe their time has come again.
1. Note how, because this is being told by heroine Daphne Frensham, the words uttered by villainess Corinne Moxton are marked by a single quote inside double quotes. I love that.
Amateur detective Ronald Standish gets a phone call from his friend Sanderson rings him up and then, mysteriously, dies. Standish and his other friend, Bill Leyton, hightail it around to Sanderson's place, there to discover Sanderson's lifeless body which has been fatally stabbed in the eye.
In turn, they are discovered by Bulldog Drummond and his friends, and both groups, once introductions have been made, are embroiled in a plot that starts off making sense but pretty soon leaves that alone and just rolls on until the end.
There are a few atmospheric moments:
The man's fingers, like thin bars of steel, were travelling up and down his biceps and still that evil chuckling continued. (p. 36)
and
"'Poor little Toto,' she said. 'I wasn't thinking what I was doing, and quite accidentally I burnt him with this.'
"And I saw that she was holding one of those big magnifying glasses in her hand." (p. 114)¹
Nothing says 'evil' like cruelty to animals.
Well, evil is vanquished with only minimal interaction with the police and all ends with witty English banter, so that's something. But the mystery is solved with no detection on the part of Standish, and not many fights involving Drummond. A character appears that almost but not quite kills Drummond, nut they're never even introduced, let alone explained. And, once the reason for all these shenanigans is revealed, it's revealed in a conversation at Peter Darrell's club. So what was all the rest in aid of?
If you're following along with the adventures of the 'Froth Blowers', you'll be happy to discover that Peter Darrell gets the girl.
Read these to learn how they're done. The author got pretty damn rich doing them a hundred years ago, so maybe their time has come again.
1. Note how, because this is being told by heroine Daphne Frensham, the words uttered by villainess Corinne Moxton are marked by a single quote inside double quotes. I love that.
April 22, 2018
This is the second BULLDOG DRUMMOND book I've read, my first being the initial entry in the series, but that was many years ago and my memory of it is foggy. I know Drummond better from the movies, especially the series starring John Howard. Drummond (both on screen and in the books) is the "by jove, this WILL be an adventure!" type. I found it somewhat annoying that the crime solving is more-or-less accomplished by committee, as it's not just the title character, but several of his friends (including two new ones) who join in the fun. The first half was rather muddled, I thought, but it picked up considerably around the mid-way point and succeeded in holding my interest through to the end. Incidentally, the 1934 movie of this title with Ronald Colman and Loretta Young bears virtually nothing in common with the book, except the presence of the title character, and a very brief appearance by his friend Algy.
June 3, 2017
Another excellent Bulldog Drummond yarn. For this one Hugh is joined by Ronald Standish, who had previously appeared in lots of Sappers short stories. The conclusion here seems more than a bit rushed. Drummond disregard for the authorities is the same as ever, if you were to take the books seriously (don't) and he had entrusted the police with the (simplistic) code earlier would probably have saved dozens of lives. Still when Drummond goes in swinging he's immense fun and this one also features a sadomasochistic film star and a Greek transvestite so it's not all bad.
May 2, 2021
Good simple mid-twentieth Centaury. Right-wing politically but not as bad as some Sapper books. A relaxing read not to be taken seriously but a page turning yarn for the elderly readers like me.
June 5, 2025
Eye-popping plot to throw England off the gold standard squashed and de-railed. 😀
June 5, 2018
A cracking adventure yarn. The plot races along throughout the book. The characters have enough depth for you to care what happens to them. Well worth a read
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews