When war broke out in 1914 Somerset Maugham was dispatched by the British Secret Service to Switzerland under the guise of completing a play Multilingual knowledgeable about many European countries & a celebrated writer Maugham had the perfect cover & the assignment appealed to his love of romance & of the ridiculous The stories collected in Ashenden are rooted in Maugham's own experiences as an agent reflecting the ruthlessness & brutality of espionage its intrigue & treachery as well as its absurdity