The Arena (novel): Difference between revisions
imported>Hayford Peirce (dunno if this is the right sort of lede, but it will do for the moment) |
imported>Hayford Peirce (getting to work on the plot, in a long-winded way) |
||
| Line 4: | Line 4: | ||
{{Authors|Hayford Peirce|others=y}} | {{Authors|Hayford Peirce|others=y}} | ||
'''The Arena''' is a 1961 suspense novel by the British author [[William Haggard]] published in England by [[Cassell]] and in the United States by [[Washburn]]. It was Haggard's third of 21 books involving his protagonist [[Colonel Charles Russell]], the head of the unobtrusive but lethal Security Executive, a government counter-intelligence agency, where he moves easily and gracefully along [[C.P. Snow|C.P. Snow's]] [[Corridors of Power (novel)|Corridors of Power]]. Like all of the other works by Haggard it is a standard novel of suspense, but combined, as usual with Haggard, with other elements: the reactions of those in high government positions who fear non-political events that could endanger Britain's place in the world, along with a tough-minded, even cynical depiction of financial shenanigans in the City of London. | '''The Arena''' is a 1961 suspense novel by the British author [[William Haggard]] published in England by [[Cassell]] and in the United States by [[Washburn]]. It was Haggard's third of 21 books involving his protagonist [[Colonel Charles Russell]], the head of the unobtrusive but lethal Security Executive, a government counter-intelligence agency, where he moves easily and gracefully along [[C.P. Snow|C.P. Snow's]] [[Corridors of Power (novel)|Corridors of Power]]. Like all of the other works by Haggard it is a standard novel of suspense, but combined, as usual with Haggard, with other elements: the reactions of those in high government positions who fear non-political events that could endanger Britain's place in the world, along with a tough-minded, even cynical depiction of financial shenanigans in the City of London and the people involved. | ||
==Plot== | ==Plot== | ||
''Protagonist'' is perhaps too strong a word to describe Colonel Russell. As Haggard himself wrote about his fiction: <blockquote>My novels are chiefly novels of suspense with a background of international politics. A Colonel Charles Russell of the Security Executive, a not entirely imaginary British counter-espionage organization, while not a protagonist in the technical sense, holds the story line together in the background by his operations, while the characters in the foreground carry the action."<ref>From the back flap of the dust jacket of the Walker and Company American edition of ''The Conspirators'', New York, 1967</ref></blockquote> | ''Protagonist'' is perhaps too strong a word to describe Colonel Russell. As Haggard himself wrote about his fiction: <blockquote>My novels are chiefly novels of suspense with a background of international politics. A Colonel Charles Russell of the Security Executive, a not entirely imaginary British counter-espionage organization, while not a protagonist in the technical sense, holds the story line together in the background by his operations, while the characters in the foreground carry the action."<ref>From the back flap of the dust jacket of the Walker and Company American edition of ''The Conspirators'', New York, 1967</ref></blockquote> | ||
Although Russell remains in the background for most of the book, he nevertheless has a more active role than in his first two appearances. In his previous book, he was sixty and supposedly about to retire; in '''Arena''' no mention is made of this. His invaluable assistant from the first book, Major Mortimer, now with a first name (Robert), reappears and is in almost every scene in which Russell appears, frequently disagreeing with him about what course of action should be taken. | |||
==References== | ==References== | ||
<references/> | <references/> | ||
and some by his near contemporaries [[Victor Canning]] and [[Michael Gilbert]], | and some by his near contemporaries [[Victor Canning]] and [[Michael Gilbert]], | ||
Revision as of 17:25, 3 October 2020
Authors [about]:
join in to develop this article! |
The Arena is a 1961 suspense novel by the British author William Haggard published in England by Cassell and in the United States by Washburn. It was Haggard's third of 21 books involving his protagonist Colonel Charles Russell, the head of the unobtrusive but lethal Security Executive, a government counter-intelligence agency, where he moves easily and gracefully along C.P. Snow's Corridors of Power. Like all of the other works by Haggard it is a standard novel of suspense, but combined, as usual with Haggard, with other elements: the reactions of those in high government positions who fear non-political events that could endanger Britain's place in the world, along with a tough-minded, even cynical depiction of financial shenanigans in the City of London and the people involved.
Plot
Protagonist is perhaps too strong a word to describe Colonel Russell. As Haggard himself wrote about his fiction:
My novels are chiefly novels of suspense with a background of international politics. A Colonel Charles Russell of the Security Executive, a not entirely imaginary British counter-espionage organization, while not a protagonist in the technical sense, holds the story line together in the background by his operations, while the characters in the foreground carry the action."[1]
Although Russell remains in the background for most of the book, he nevertheless has a more active role than in his first two appearances. In his previous book, he was sixty and supposedly about to retire; in Arena no mention is made of this. His invaluable assistant from the first book, Major Mortimer, now with a first name (Robert), reappears and is in almost every scene in which Russell appears, frequently disagreeing with him about what course of action should be taken.
References
- ↑ From the back flap of the dust jacket of the Walker and Company American edition of The Conspirators, New York, 1967
and some by his near contemporaries Victor Canning and Michael Gilbert,