Alexander Wilson’s 1936 Wallace of the Secret Service novel switches the dramatic fight to preserve the British Empire by Sir Leonard Wallace to what was then the highly lucrative colony of Hong Kong- on lease from China. Herbert Jenkins explained ‘What This Story Is About’: Although some months separated the publications of Alexander Wilson’s rousing…
Get Wallace! Alexander Wilson’s fourth Secret Service novel published in 1934
‘Get Wallace’ firmly established Alexander Wilson’s fictional British Secret Service as something English speaking readers could identify with. It was rapidly becoming an imaginative force policing the world and keeping people safe from the evils of organised crime. The first publisher Herbert Jenkins explained ‘What This Story Is About’ Sir Leonard Wallace, the famous chief…
Mystery of Tunnel 51 – the first Wallace of the Secret Service novel 1928
The first publishers of Alexander Wilson’s first novel ‘The Mystery of Tunnel 51’ issued the following details about the book in their periodical for libraries and the book-trade called ‘Longmans List’: Notes on Books, Longmans, Green and Co. Ltd, July 1928 The Mystery of Tunnel 51 By Alexander Wilson, Crown 8vo, pp. vi + 345,…
The Devil’s Cocktail – The Great Game in late 1920s British India
This is one of the most significant and remarkable espionage novels of the 1920s. It is set in Lahore, the Punjab during the time of the Raj in British India and the action, suspense and drama is another intense Alexander Wilson narrative of the early 20th century Great Game of intelligence between the British Empire…
Wallace of the Secret Service – third espionage volume published 1933
‘Wallace of the Secret Service’ was the first Alexander Wilson espionage novel featuring Sir Leonard Wallace and his global imperial counter-intelligence service published by Herbert Jenkins in 1933. Such was its popularity the volume went into a second imprint in 1939. Its success can be attributed to the structure of ten self-contained stories and adventures…
Walking in great grandfather’s footsteps – Lahore 2015
One of Alexander Wilson’s great grandsons, Christopher McGill, visited Lahore in 2015 seeking to unravel some of the mysteries surrounding the spy writer’s time there between 1925 and 1933. Would the palatial bungalow at number 11 Masson Road where Wilson wrote ‘The Mystery of Tunnel 51’ and ‘The Devil’s Cocktail’ still be standing? Would he…
Alexander Wilson - Author, Adventurer and Spy 