Books

First edition, first impression, retaining its jacket and inscribed by the author on the title page, "Mort Chambers, from Eric Ambler, Los Angeles, 1970". Mortimer Chambers was professor of Ancient History at the University of California. This classic spy thriller was Ambler's "last book before the war. This is the most psychological of his novels and has the English hero Graham, an expert in the Turkish military who is insular, conventional and politically naive, on a boat being pursued by Nazi assassins" (Porter). It later inspired the films of 1943 and 1975. Henry Porter, "The Best Spy Fiction", The Guardian, 18 Jan. 2009, accessible online. Octavo. Original blue cloth, titles to spine in black. With the scarce dust jacket. Small pencil inscription on the dedication page. Spine cocked and faded, rear board rubbed and with white and light brown spots, edges a little rubbed, small dampstain to fore edge of text block, faint tanning to free endpapers, occasional single spot or finger mark to contents. A very good copy in a rubbed and chipped jacket with a few minor stains and short closed tears.

This thrilling story is set during World War II and centers around an engineer's attempts to evade assassination while returning to England.