8/7/1940 Eric Ambler introduces a gentleman poet

August 7, 1940.  Eric Ambler was a great author of thriller and spy novels.  On this date Sketch magazine published one of his few short stories.  "The Adventure of the Gentleman Poet" was one of six tales he wrote about Dr. Jan Czissar, a Czech refugee who helped Scotland yard.

11/30/1974 Eric Ambler sorts the rubbish

November 30, 1974.  The Times Saturday Review of this date featured an article by great British spy novelist Eric Ambler with the unpromising title, "A Better Sort of Rubbish."  His argument was that the new generation of espionage writers like John LeCarre and Len Deighton were superior to the previous authors such as Sidney Horler and William Le Queux.

Ambler wrote spy novels for more than forty years, starting in 1936.  He won the Edgar and Gold Dagger Awards, each twice.  One of his screenplays was nominated for an Oscar.

Source: Peter Wolfe, Alarms and Epitaphs: The Art of Eric Ambler.