A Very English Agent

by Julian Rathbone

Dwarfish Charlie Boylan carries a loaded pistol into the House of Commons. He was a police spy for nearly forty years, and now he wants a pension and knows what will get it. Did he, between Waterloo and Wellington's funeral, cause the Peterloo riot to happen? Was it Charlie who fingered the Cato Street Conspirators? Did Shelley really drown by accident? And at the opening of the Great Exhibition was it he who saved the Queen from being blown up? With dark undertones in its revelations of the orchestrated state repression that followed the Napoleonic Wars, A Very English Agent travels through the early years of the 19th century in a rumbustious, funny novel, worthy of the times it describes.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical

437 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Julian Christopher Rathbone was born in 1935 in Blackheath, southeast London. His great-uncle was the actor and great Sherlock Holmes interpreter Basil Rathbone, although they never met.

The prolific author Julian Rathbone was a writer of crime stories, mysteries and thrillers who also turned his hand to the historical novel, science fiction and even horror — and much of his writing had strong political and social dimensions.

He was difficult to pigeonhole because his scope was so broad. Arguably, his experiment with different genres and thus his refusal to be typecast cost him a wider audience than he enjoyed. Just as his subject matter changed markedly over the years, so too did his readers and his publishers.

Among his more than 40 books two were shortlisted for the Booker Prize for Fiction. Both were historical novels: first King Fisher Lives, a taut adventure revolving around a guru figure, in 1976, and, secondly, Joseph, set during the Peninsular War and written in an 18th-century prose style, in 1979. But Rathbone never quite made it into the wider public consciousness.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_R...

Reviews

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like Rathbone... but I have now had enough of Boylan/Bosham or whatever his name is. The book carries on in his normal style of historical paradoy mixed with alternate endings... and he does that well... The problem is that he takes too long to get to the point - by the time he does you've lost the will to live and you don't really care anymore.

About 130 pages too long.

[Peter Oxley · Rating 3 out of 5]

At the funeral of the Duke of Wellington, a strange man causes a stir by demanding compensation for work done over a number of years on behalf of the government, work which might not be strictly legal. The establishment gets more and more interested and uneasy as this man tells his story, spanning from Waterloo all the way to the 1851 Great Exhibition, implicating himself and his alleged employers in all manner of crimes and scandals.

I really should have loved this book, and really wanted to. After all, what's not to love? A flawed and unreliable protagonist, Wellington, agents provocateurs and Swing Rioters, Queen Victoria and even the death of Shelley all make an appearance. The writing is humorous and very evocative of the period, with some lovely touches to really send you back to the first half of the 19th century.

But I just found myself wanting more, and not in a good way: I know the point of these things is to keep you guessing, but too much was left unanswered to leave me feeling even part-way satisfied by the end (don't worry: no spoilers). The voices of the characters were all well written, but my main issue was with the protagonist Charlie Boylan / Bosham - when he's writing down his thoughts for others, I totally agree that we can be misled, but not when the story is coming at us direct from his own perspective? In the end this, plus the endlessly shifting points of view, left me fatigued and not really caring what would happen to anyone - which is a shame, because there's so much here to love.

[Amkd69 · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book had a great start! but didn't hold my interest for too long. It was well written but the historical subject and the time it was set in didn't have any interest for me. It was written imo from a male point of view and had too many details of battles and armies for my taste.

[Heather Kirkpatrick · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just not my style.

[Andy · Rating 2 out of 5]

A Very English Agent was just an ok read. Lots of satire, but it wearies you as our hero (or anti-hero) narrates his exploits as an agent of the crown. The settings and targets of his subterfuge change, but it's basically the same ol', same ol' being told over and over and over. I lost interest pretty quickly in spite of a chuckle here and there, and struggled to finish. I made it, however, all the way to the anti-climax where all (or nothing) was revealed, but I found I didn't care anymore.

[Ed · Rating 2 out of 5]

Terribly dull. Disappointing as I read and enjoyed Kings of Albion and the Last English king when I read them years ago. This riff on an eighteenth century James Bond had potential and was occasionally fun, but too meandering, too much sitting around in prisons, parlors or hiding in trees to maintain any sense of urgency or plot momentum. The main character is also unlikeable, unfunny and easy to not care about. A lost opportunity.

[Erica · Rating 1 out of 5]

I tried really hard, but couldn't get into it. I found it really boring, which was odd given the subject matter and genre; I usually love historical fiction. So I struggled through 139 pages and then gave up. Sorry Mr Rathbone, this is the second novel of yours I've read and I just don't think your style is for me.

[Janhmmn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book and learned a lot about the 19th century, but the author has a habit I find annoying of bringing future echoes into his history books. Like a character called Brandreth who wears a selection of brightly coloured jumpers.

[Lady B of house Sefer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book, I love satire and history. But I just couldn't with this book. The book just kinda plods on in an endless loop of whitty sarcasm while the antihero bumbles along. The ending was extremely anticlimactic.

[Adriana · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked his other books but the main character on this one is so grating...

[Paul Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

To be hones I found it a bit heavy going in parts. It has lots of descriptive passages. There is a lot of interesting history embedded in the story.

[Urbi Chatterjee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A racy thriller set in 19th century England with an unlikely protagonist as the veritable super spy cum sometimes-assassin, the book is a frisky ride through some of the biggest events of the period, involving big names. The conspiracy theories are beautifully woven, and the very plausibility of the narrative emphasizes the success of the author. Ideal for history buffs looking to unwind. Looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

[Richard Forsythe · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thoroughly enjoyable read by a master story teller. The author achieves the impossible by taking a very unattractive protagonist and allowing him to weave his magic through the corridors of history whilst gently mocking the credulity of the reader. As such it is the antithesis to the genre of historical fiction and makes for a highly entertaining experience.

[Datolong · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting 19th century spy adventure. A vivid image of the cruel and repressive era of 'pre-modern'Britain. The author's dry wit and a review of British history makes easy reading on a rainy evening!

[Dch3jac1 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of episodes rather than a continuous narrative. A different view of some English history. Enjoyable and good fun, I'll be reading the next one.

[Rdb]

Read 60 pages.

[Redsteve · Rating 1 out of 5]

Meh.

[Steve Clark]

Brown Book Group (2003)

[Tom Lloyd]

DNF - not by a long shot. Some of it's fine, but when you're writing historical fiction with an very smug tone and your main character just happens to help victory at Waterloo in the first few chapters, you'd have to be a fucking moron to include footnotes referencing stuff like Rolf Harris. In historical fiction. I don't care if your conceit is that you're somehow editing or presenting this fictional memoir, that's a pretentious approach anyway that I've got little time for and in the face of a TBR pile full of quality work, why would I bother going past page 50?