Ashenden or The British Agent Author:Somerset Maugham The secret agent has a dangerous and lonely life, rewarded by anonymity - shadowed by the fear of death. W. Somerset Maugham lived it, and from his own experiences as a British agent devised the novel Ashenden. It is the story of a celebrated novelist who entered the service of his country knowing that if he did well he would get not thanks, and... more » if got into trouble he would get no help. It is written as only Maugham, the greater entertainer of the century, could write it.« less