In June 1917, W. S. Maugham was asked by the British Secret Intelligence Service, to undertake a special mission in Russia to support Kerensky's government. The mission failed, and two and a half months later, the Bolsheviks took control. Maugham subsequently said that if he had been able to get there six months earlier, he might have succeeded. Quiet and observant, Maugham had a good temperament for intelligence work. The writer used his spying experiences as the basis for his collection of short stories called Ashenden: Or the British Agent. They became the prototype for the modern espionage novel involving a gentlemanly, sophisticated, aloof spy. In volume two of this series, we present the Ashenden stories along with 15 others whose subjects range from South Pacific drama among British colonialists, to Caribbean prison colonies of the French Empire, and the hot tempered Latin stories of South and Central America…masterpieces all.

The stories in volume two are:

• 1. "Miss King" (Ashenden)
• 2. "The Hairless Mexican" (Ashenden)
• 3. "Giulia Lazzari" (Ashenden)
• 4. "The Traitor" (Ashenden)
• 5. "His Excellency" (Ashenden)
• 6. "Mr. Harrington's Washing" (Ashenden)
• 7. "Footprints in the Jungle"
• 8. "The Human Element"
• 9. "Virtue"
• 10. "The Alien Corn"
• 11. "The Book Bag"
• 12. "The Vessel of Wrath"
• 13. "The Door of Opportunity"
• 14. "The Back of Beyond"
• 15. "Neil McAdam"
• 16. "A Woman of Fifty"
• 17. "The Man With the Scar"
• 18. "The Bum"
• 19. "The Closed Shop"
• 20. "An Official Position"
• 21. "A Man with a Conscience"

The Complete Short Stories of W. S. Maugham will continue in volume three.

All stories not in public domain are the property of and published by agreement with the W. Somerset Maugham Royalty Trust.