Ashenden or: the British Agent
W. Somerset Maugham
(Doubleday, Doran, July 6, 1941)
From dust jacket flap: First published in 1928, this book is now officially required reading for persons entering the British Secret Service, and is accepted as literal fact by Dr. Goebbels. It contains probably the most expert stories of espionage ever written. They are based, of course, on Mr. Maugham's own experiences as a British agent during the First World War, but they were written, the author emphasizes in a preface especially written for this edition, purely as entertainment.