First published in England in 1940 and in the U.S. in 1941, this novel introduced series character Tommy Hambledon but the center stage is occupied by a young British spy whose adventrues were based on the life of one of the two collaborators, Cyril Coles, who was the youngest intelligence officer in the history of the British Secret Service. It's a grim, realistic spy story set during World War I framed within an inverted detective story. Coles, along with Eric Ambler, is credited with creating the modern espionage novel.
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First published in England in 1940 and in the U.S. in 1941, this novel introduced series character Tommy Hambledon but the center stage is occupied by a young British spy whose adventrues were based on the life of one of the two collaborators, Cyril Coles, who was the youngest intelligence officer in the history of the British Secret Service. It's a grim, realistic spy story set during World War I framed within an inverted detective story. Coles, along with Eric Ambler, is credited with creating the modern espionage novel.
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Add this copy of Drink to Yesterday to cart. $2.24, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Dallas rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2008 by Rue Morgue Press.
Add this copy of Drink to Yesterday (Rue Morgue Vintage Mysteries) to cart. $2.94, very good condition, Sold by Midtown Scholar Bookstore rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Harrisburg, PA, UNITED STATES, published 2008 by Rue Morgue.
Add this copy of Drink to Yesterday to cart. $3.75, very good condition, Sold by HPB-Ruby rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2008 by Rue Morgue.
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Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Add this copy of Drink to Yesterday (Rue Morgue Vintage Mysteries) to cart. $5.15, good condition, Sold by Blindpigbooks rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Salt Lake City, UT, UNITED STATES, published 2008 by Rue Morgue Press.
Add this copy of Drink to Yesterday (Rue Morgue Vintage Mysteries) to cart. $5.59, very good condition, Sold by HPB Inc. rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2008 by Rue Morgue.
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Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Add this copy of Drink to Yesterday to cart. $9.00, good condition, Sold by Prairie Archives rated 3.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Springfield, IL, UNITED STATES, published 2008 by Rue Morgue.
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Add this copy of Drink to Yesterday ( a Rue Morgue Vintage Mystery) to cart. $15.00, new condition, Sold by Murder By The Book rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Cranston, RI, UNITED STATES, published 2008 by Rue Morgue Press.
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Pudim, Rob. New. Trade Paperback 1st prtg. A fine, unread copy of this trade paperback. The first of two books in what famed critic Anthony Boucher called "a single long and magnificent novel of drama, intrigue and humor." When Drink to Yesterday first appeared in Britain in 1940 and in the U.S. in 1941, it was immediately heralded as a departure from the fanciful spy-and-intrigue novels that preceded it. Gone were complicated passwords, deadly dames in black velvet, and dashing aristocratic secret agents. Here, instead, was what Howard Haycraft, the genre's first historian, termed "a mood of subtle understatement, " calling Drink to Yesterday and its immediate sequel, A Toast to Tomorrow, "superior" examples of this revamped genre. Drink to Yesterday was based on the early life of one of its two collaborators, Cyril Henry Coles, who left school, lied about his age and enlisted as a teenager in the British army during World War I. He was transferred to intelligence when his remarkable aptitude for conversational German was noticed and he became the youngest member of Britain's Foreign Intelligence Office (later MI6). Like Bill Saunders of the book, Coles spent much of the rest of war working behind enemy lines. Coles and his collaborator, a Hampshire neighbor, Adelaide Oke Manning, chose to cast his story in the form of the novel so as not to run afoul of the Official Secrets Act. Grimmer than later books in the series, it's also an ingenious circular story of murder, enlived by the sardonic humor of Bill 's mentor and fellow agent, Tommy Hambledon.
Add this copy of Drink to Yesterday (Rue Morgue Vintage Mysteries) to cart. $20.00, like new condition, Sold by Sutton Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Norwich, VT, UNITED STATES, published 2008 by Rue Morgue, 2008.
I first read this book many years ago, in my twenties. I've reread it several times since, and will continue to reread it until I pop my clogs and depart to that great Intelligence Bureau in the sky.
The book gets off to a slow start, making one feel somewhat impatient. But bear with it--it is SO worth the wait, and you'll realize that the background is essential to understanding the story as it unfolds.
In a way this can be viewed as a coming-of-age story, set against the background of a brutal war. We focus too much on World War II. Horrible as it was--and I'm not disputing that at all--World War I was equally so. If you don't believe that, try visiting the town of Ieper, or the Passchendale Museum in Belgium. (To this day there are squads that deal with World War I lethal armaments still unearthed by farmers there.) This story brings horror of that war to life.
This was the first book in a series of Tommy Hambledon novels and like the others, it is both witty and well told. It's a pleasure to read, and I recommend it and its sequel, A Toast to Tomorrow, highly.
