William Tufnell Le Queux (1864-1927) could justly claim to have invented the spy novel as a genre. He wrote 150 novels of international intrigue, and is now best remembered for several jingoistic novels in which he warned in the most strenuous terms of the danger of England's invasion by the Kaiser's Germany in the two decades before the actual outbreak of the Great War. "The Invasion of 1910" (1906) was probably his most successful effort in this vein, selling over a million copies after having been serialised in the Daily Mail.
"Spies of the Kaiser" (1909) mines this same vein of anti-German feeling that was so profitable in the early part of the 20th Century, although this later work was claimed to be reportage rather than fiction. Le Queux was convinced that hundreds of pro-German traitors were at work amongst the unsuspecting British population, and the plate illustration to this original edition shows an Edwardian spy-mistress busy at her radio equipment, broadcasting England's military secrets to a German warship looming menacingly in the bay behind her.
Apparently many of his readers were convinced of the truth of these allegations too, and not merely the readers of the Daily Mail. Historian Nicholas Hiley, in his introduction to a later edition explains that the book had such a radical effect on the political class that it played a major part in the establishment of MI5.
Le Queux was himself an odd character who could boast diverse achievements: a flying enthusiast, he officiated at the first British air meeting at Doncaster in 1909, was honorary consul for San Merino and as an early radio ham broadcast music from his own station. During the First World War he was convinced that he was the target of several German assassination plots but his pleas for special police protection failed. However in this case his life did not imitate his art, and he survived the first world war to write an autobiography full of bizarre inventions ("What I Know About Kings, Celebrities and Crooks", 1923).
Our copy of "Spies of the Kaiser" was published by Hurst & Blackett, London. Hardback pocket edition (20x110x165mm) with no jacket. 320pp, blue cloth boards, blindstamped with H&B loge to front & "Fry's Breakfast Cocoa" to rear. Undated but is probably around 1912. Condition: Very good+. Contains one black and white plate illustration. Original editions of Le Queux's works are becoming increasingly scarce, particularly in such condition.
Currently for sale at Oxfam Books and Music Moseley. Price: £75.00.
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