Thursday, 2 July 2009

William Le Queux

Today, a tip of the hat - a trilby worn at a slightly suspect angle, I think - to William Le Queux, born on this day in 1864. Read that biog - and that list of works - and marvel at the man's sheer energy and nerve. Truly, they don't make them like that any more - no, not even the ineffable Jeff can compete. Le Queux puts me in mind of Edgar Wallace - who, as it happens, was another one taken under the capacious wing of the Daily Mail's Lord Northcliffe. I've never read The Invasion of 1910 - has anyone out there? - but I read Erskine Childers's similarly themed The Riddle of the Sands not long ago. Parts of it are excellent.
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5 comments:

  1. worm2 July 2009 at 11:10

    oooh the riddle of the sands - with michael york - classic sunday afternoon film fare..

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  2. Gareth Williams2 July 2009 at 11:34

    Nige, I'm wondering how you pronounce his name. Would you be a dear?

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  3. Nige2 July 2009 at 12:03

    Good question Gaw - and I've no idea of the answer. As he was half-French it ought to sound more or less like Kew, but he might well have sounded the X to seem more English.

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  4. Brit2 July 2009 at 12:15

    From the Wiki:

    At the beginning of World War I Le Queux became convinced that the Germans were out to get him for "rumbling their schemes" and from then on became involved in a continual struggle with his local police force and the Metropolitan Police over his request for special protection from German agents. The authorities, however, in the words of Edward Henry (head of the Metropolitan Police) saw him as "not a person to be taken seriously" and saw no need to fulfill his request

    "Gott damn zat Le Qverchse schwein! He hess rumbled our schemes!"

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  5. Anonymous7 July 2009 at 17:22

    Terrific - I especially want to read "House to Let'...

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