Buchan's espionage novels were very good. Geoffrey Household wrote a little later in a similiar vein. Household's Rogue Male is a masterpiece. I re-read it every few years.A ripping yarn…..
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Sir Compton Mackenzie's Cats' Company.
Sir Edward Montague Compton Mackenzie (1883 - 1972) was a prolific Scottish writer (he wrote nearly 100 books on a variety of topics), broadcaster, political activist, historian, social critic, and pipe-smoker. He wrote Sublime Tobacco in 1957, a copy of which was thoughtfully presented to me a few years back by Forums member Klause. He was also a cat-fancier, and was President of The Siamese Cat Club of Great Britain.
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Cats' Company tells of his experiences with these marvelous creatures, and is accompanied by delightful photographs of his cats by G. Harrison Marks.
Chekhov's genius left an indelible impact on every literary form in which he wrote, but none more so than short fiction. Now, renowned translators and longtime house authors Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky give us their peerless renderings of 52 Chekhov stories - a full deck! These stories, which span the full arc of his career, reveal the extraordinary variety and unexpectedness of his work, from the farcically comic to the darkly complex, showing that there is no one type of "Chekhov story". They are populated by a remarkable range of characters who come from all parts of Russia, all walks of life, and who, taken together, have democratized the short story. Included here are a number of never-before-translated stories, including "Reading" and "An Educated Blockhead".
Crazy coincidence: after enjoying SPQR last summer, I listened to the Great Courses series on the history of British India!Finished SPQR so I started The Anarchy by Dalrymple. It's about the East India Company and their rule of India. Very good so far.
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My favorite short story writer"52 Stories" by Anton Chekhov is my current listen. A so-far wonderfully funny collection of short stories, including the earliest of his career. From the description on Audible:
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I read "The 39 Steps" after I saw it posted here. I'm a fan and I just ordered "Mr. Standfast.A ripping yarn…..
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