Spy in the Nude.

Seth (Ronald)

Spy in the Nude.

Description: FIRST EDITION, initial leaves with faint offsetting from dustjacket flap, pp. 191, 8vo, original yellow boards, spine lettered in black, small dent at upper joint, faint indentation to upper board, slight lean to spine, unclipped dustjacket with a few chips, backstrip panel with small mark, very good

Publication Details: Robert Hale, 1962

Notes: A particularly striking example of an author's work reflecting their own experiences, the action here features a best-selling writer of spy thrillers, who is, himself, deeply involved in espionage and threatened, as the narrative opens, with a serious breach of security by a rogue agent. Seth, who adopted the name Robert Chartham for his sexology work, was educated at Cambridge, and after spells at the BBC and Monitoring Intelligence Bureau, was parachuted in 1942 into occupied Estonia in order to destroy shale oil refineries. He was captured by German authorities, was employed as an informer...moreA particularly striking example of an author's work reflecting their own experiences, the action here features a best-selling writer of spy thrillers, who is, himself, deeply involved in espionage and threatened, as the narrative opens, with a serious breach of security by a rogue agent. Seth, who adopted the name Robert Chartham for his sexology work, was educated at Cambridge, and after spells at the BBC and Monitoring Intelligence Bureau, was parachuted in 1942 into occupied Estonia in order to destroy shale oil refineries. He was captured by German authorities, was employed as an informer in Oflag 79, a prisoner-of-war camp, and carried a message of peace from Himmler to London in 1945. The British Secret Service, who, according to Max Hastings ('The Secret War: Spies, Codes and Guerrillas 1939–1945', 2015) referred to Seth as Blunderhead, deemed that there was insufficient evidence to establish that he had 'turned', leaving him free to follow his sexology pursuits. The title of this work rather neatly summarizes the author's double life. HIDE