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The Gay Triangle The Romance Of The First Air Adventurers
"The Gay Triangle" via William Le Queux is a thrilling tale about own family individuals residing all over the international and their complex relationships with each other. With its setting in Europe in the early 1900s, the radical actions through a global of hidden alliances and operations, wherein diplomacy and espionage meet. There are a variety of complex connections among diplomats, spies, and political figures that make up the story. Le Queux tells a tale that is complete of hysteria, thriller, and smart actions. As the tale goes on, readers become interested by the sneaky plans of many folks that are looking to preserve the delicate stability of global politics. This book indicates how excellent Le Queux is at telling tales by way of having complex characters and a plot that adjustments speedy. "The Gay Triangle" indicates how properly the author is aware geopolitical pressures, espionage, and the high-stakes recreation of global members of the family in a time whilst politics are very complex. This book suggests that Le Queux can write an interesting story that keeps readers inquisitive about the world of secrets and techniques and strategies, alliances, and the shady dealings of espionage. It indicates how tough it's far to balance international family members and covert operations at a vital time in history.
126 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1922
About the author
William Le Queux
568 books30 followersNovelist William Tufnell Le Queux was born in London on 2 July 1864. His father, also William of Chateauroux, Indre, was a French draper's assistant and his mother was English.
He was educated in Europe and studied art under Ignazio Spiridon in Paris. He walked extensively in France and Germany and supported himself for a time writing for French newspapers. It was one of his sensational stories in The Petit Journal that attracted the attention of the French novelist Emile Zola and it was supposedly he who encouraged Le Queux to become a full-time writer.
In the late 1880s he returned to London where he edited the Gossip and Piccadilly magazines before joining the staff of The Globe newspaper in 1891 as a parliamentary reporter. But he resigned in 1893 and decided to abandon journalism to concentrate on writing and travelling. And his extensive travelling saw him visit Russia, the Near East, North Africa, Egypt and the Sudan and in 1912–13 he was a correspondent in the Balkan War for the Daily Mail. On his travels he found it necessary to become an expert revolver shot.
His first book was Guilty Bonds (1891), which concentrated on political conspiracy in Russia to such a degree that it was subsequently banned in that country. A series of short stories Strange Tales of a Nihilist followed in 1892 and from then on he was producing books on a regular basis until his death, and beyond, as a number of posthumous works were published.
His works mainly related to espionage activity and it was said that he was employed for a number of years as a member of the British Secret Service, where he was an expert on wireless transmission. He did claim to have been the first wireless experimenter to have broadcast from his station at Guildford in 1920/21 and he was president of the Wireless Experimental Association and a member of the Institute of Radio Engineers.
He stated at one time that he began writing to help finance his work for British Intelligence for whom he was required to undertake much travelling and to make personal contact with royalty and other high-ranking people. He recorded some of the latter meetings in his autobiography entitled Things I Know about Kings, Celebrities and Crooks (1923).
He was at one time Consul of the Republic of San Marino and he possessed Italian, Serbian and Montenegrin decorations. He was also a keen collector of medieval manuscripts and monastic seals.
However, all his activities did not stop him turning out novel after novel and at the time of his death he had well over 100 books to his credit.
After several weeks' illness, he died at Knocke, Belgium, in the early hours of 13 October 1927. His body was returned to England and on 19 October he was cremated at Golders Green with the Reverend Francis Taylor of Bedford conducting the service, which was attended by Le Queux's brother and a few intimate friends. (Gerry Wolstenholme, January 2013)
He was educated in Europe and studied art under Ignazio Spiridon in Paris. He walked extensively in France and Germany and supported himself for a time writing for French newspapers. It was one of his sensational stories in The Petit Journal that attracted the attention of the French novelist Emile Zola and it was supposedly he who encouraged Le Queux to become a full-time writer.
In the late 1880s he returned to London where he edited the Gossip and Piccadilly magazines before joining the staff of The Globe newspaper in 1891 as a parliamentary reporter. But he resigned in 1893 and decided to abandon journalism to concentrate on writing and travelling. And his extensive travelling saw him visit Russia, the Near East, North Africa, Egypt and the Sudan and in 1912–13 he was a correspondent in the Balkan War for the Daily Mail. On his travels he found it necessary to become an expert revolver shot.
His first book was Guilty Bonds (1891), which concentrated on political conspiracy in Russia to such a degree that it was subsequently banned in that country. A series of short stories Strange Tales of a Nihilist followed in 1892 and from then on he was producing books on a regular basis until his death, and beyond, as a number of posthumous works were published.
His works mainly related to espionage activity and it was said that he was employed for a number of years as a member of the British Secret Service, where he was an expert on wireless transmission. He did claim to have been the first wireless experimenter to have broadcast from his station at Guildford in 1920/21 and he was president of the Wireless Experimental Association and a member of the Institute of Radio Engineers.
He stated at one time that he began writing to help finance his work for British Intelligence for whom he was required to undertake much travelling and to make personal contact with royalty and other high-ranking people. He recorded some of the latter meetings in his autobiography entitled Things I Know about Kings, Celebrities and Crooks (1923).
He was at one time Consul of the Republic of San Marino and he possessed Italian, Serbian and Montenegrin decorations. He was also a keen collector of medieval manuscripts and monastic seals.
However, all his activities did not stop him turning out novel after novel and at the time of his death he had well over 100 books to his credit.
After several weeks' illness, he died at Knocke, Belgium, in the early hours of 13 October 1927. His body was returned to England and on 19 October he was cremated at Golders Green with the Reverend Francis Taylor of Bedford conducting the service, which was attended by Le Queux's brother and a few intimate friends. (Gerry Wolstenholme, January 2013)
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 20, 2016
An early writer of spy fiction, Le Queux has passed out of fashion along with Bulldog Drummond. There are many coincidences and frankly incredible occurrences in this collection of stories about a former RAF pilot, his French love interest and her brother as they battle evil around Europe in a car that converts to an aeroplane, and later in a helicopter, but there is also lots to like.
Warning: one story has a cipher at its centre, and this cipher, along with the decrypted version, does not show up in the free Kindle edition; presumably it was an illustration.
Warning: one story has a cipher at its centre, and this cipher, along with the decrypted version, does not show up in the free Kindle edition; presumably it was an illustration.
March 4, 2016
Definitely a period piece, but if you like Victor Appleton's Tom Swift stories, or the later Hardy Boys adventures, you will probably enjoy these stories from William Le Queux (1864-1927.) Le Queux was a journalist, fancier of airships of all sorts, and an early radio pioneer. He wrote hundreds of spy and adventure stories as well, many of them laced with elements of what might be considered science fiction intermingled with historic facts and locations.
The "triangle" in this book is a team of three adventurers, Dick, Jules, and Yvette, who begin as spies and soon become involved in solving non-military mysteries as well. No copyright date is given, but the collection of short stories looks as if they were originally published serially, perhaps in a magazine, and later gathered into book form. The book appears to have been published in 1923, and the technology and events of the stories would date them sometime in the previous decade.
Dick is the inventor, who comes up with amazing machines that always are available just in time to solve a problem. Yvette is the daring operative willing to invade any space at all risks, while Jules is the "muscle" who stands guard, ready to rescue Yvette at any time. Heavier than air flying machines, radio, and miniature electronics were all new concepts at the time, and all find their way into the stories. The final adventure deals with the theft and recovery of a valuable supply of radium, and the penultimate story is an echo of Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles.
Tip to would-be readers: While this public domain collection is available free from Amazon, the graphics are missing from that version. The last story relies upon decipherment of a cryptogram that was a graphic image in the original. If you want to be able to see the message and its decipherment, you would do better to obtain the book from Project Gutenberg (www.gutenberg.org,) where free versions that include the graphics are available in HTML, epub, and mobi (Kindle) formats.
The "triangle" in this book is a team of three adventurers, Dick, Jules, and Yvette, who begin as spies and soon become involved in solving non-military mysteries as well. No copyright date is given, but the collection of short stories looks as if they were originally published serially, perhaps in a magazine, and later gathered into book form. The book appears to have been published in 1923, and the technology and events of the stories would date them sometime in the previous decade.
Dick is the inventor, who comes up with amazing machines that always are available just in time to solve a problem. Yvette is the daring operative willing to invade any space at all risks, while Jules is the "muscle" who stands guard, ready to rescue Yvette at any time. Heavier than air flying machines, radio, and miniature electronics were all new concepts at the time, and all find their way into the stories. The final adventure deals with the theft and recovery of a valuable supply of radium, and the penultimate story is an echo of Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles.
Tip to would-be readers: While this public domain collection is available free from Amazon, the graphics are missing from that version. The last story relies upon decipherment of a cryptogram that was a graphic image in the original. If you want to be able to see the message and its decipherment, you would do better to obtain the book from Project Gutenberg (www.gutenberg.org,) where free versions that include the graphics are available in HTML, epub, and mobi (Kindle) formats.
December 6, 2017
A fast paced page turner
Strong characterization and lively action in the interwar period, this is an unexpected gem.
While I would have liked to have given this a higher rating, two factors prevent me from doing so.
Firstly, a paragraph in the final chapter appears to be missing. While it is possible to muddle through without the seemingly missing paragraph, it nonetheless breaks the suspension of disbelief.
Secondly, the storytelling and language, while suited to the setting of the book, are rather antiquated, and in places the story becomes rather stilted.
Still, overall, I recommend this book to those with a love of steam or diesel punk, as it very much fits in between the two for its classic pulp feel.
Strong characterization and lively action in the interwar period, this is an unexpected gem.
While I would have liked to have given this a higher rating, two factors prevent me from doing so.
Firstly, a paragraph in the final chapter appears to be missing. While it is possible to muddle through without the seemingly missing paragraph, it nonetheless breaks the suspension of disbelief.
Secondly, the storytelling and language, while suited to the setting of the book, are rather antiquated, and in places the story becomes rather stilted.
Still, overall, I recommend this book to those with a love of steam or diesel punk, as it very much fits in between the two for its classic pulp feel.
December 25, 2023
This is a collection of short stories, some are pretty good others bring on nap time. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the collection is its "Tom Swift-esque" dimensions. The author makes significant attempts at being forward thinking. Given the post-WW1 time frame of the collection, it is pretty interesting, curious and often wrong.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews