TOMMY HAMBLEDON

Tommy Hambledon is an agent for British Intelligence.

The history behind the Hambledon series is as interesting as the series itself, and that is saying something. Around 1936, a former British Army Intelligence officer, named Cyril Henry Coles, was chatting with his neighbor, Adelaide Francis Manning and began to reminisce about some of his adventures during the First World War. Manning, being an author, was intrigued and wanted to know more. Soon the idea presented itself that they combine his experience, her writing skills, and both their imaginations to create an Intelligence agent. Initially he bore considerable resemblance to Coles but as they quickly updated the storyline and brought him into current events.

Tommy Hambledon starts out as a teacher of languages in a prestigious boys' school in England. He also works part-time for British Intelligence due to his knowledge of foreign languages and his expertise in German affairs. When the hostilities of World War I commence, Hambledon takes a leave of absence to join with several others to help fight the Kaiser. Near the end of the war, he died tragically by drowning in the ocean.

Nearly twenty years later, as Nazi Germany was starting on its frightening road to trouble, Hambledon resurfaces, the victim of an elongated period of amnesia. Incredibly, he had attained the post of Chief of the Nazi Police. Remembering who he really is, he asks his own bosses if he might be of help.

Hambledon is very much a man in the Buchanesque mode, a thinking man of action with the breeding necessary to take High Tea before putting the butter knife between your ribs.

Tommy Hambledon is definitely his own man. That being said, he also represents an interesting bridge between the fictional agents of the pre-WWII era, like those written by Buchan and Ambler, and those of the post-war era, like Bond and Fedora. He can come across highly refined, almost to the verge of being foppish, and then he can pull a pistol from a coat pocket (never a shoulder holster) and dash out across the moors in pursuit of miscreants.

I really like Hambledon. There is a lot of similarity between him and the LeCarre creation, George Smiley, in that both are highly intelligent, thinking agents. Hambledon, however, is often anxious to get out amongst the perils himself while Smiley knows the wisdom of sending others. In addition, the adventures that Hambledon gets involved in are often more of a mystery than a shoot-it-out.

The writing style of Manning Coles is quick and easy to enjoy but the setting of scenes never suffer. It is 'ever-so' British but a delight to this American palette.