Now or Never (Hambledon #13)

Manning Coles was the pseudonym of two British writers, Adelaide Frances Oke Manning (1891–1959) and Cyril Henry Coles (1899–1965), who wrote many spy thrillers from the early 1940s through the early 1960s.

Manning and Coles were neighbors in East Meon, Hampshire. Coles worked for British Intelligence in both the World Wars. Manning worked for the War Office during World War I. Their first books were fairly realistic and with a touch of grimness; their postwar books perhaps suffered from an excess of lightheartedness and whimsy. Many of the original exploits were based on the real-life experiences of Coles, who lied about his age and enlisted under an assumed name in a Hampshire regiment during World War I while still a teenager. He eventually became the youngest officer in British intelligence, often working behind German lines, due to his extraordinary ability to master languages.

Manning Coles is best known for the creation of the Tommy Hambledon series which began in 1940. The fictional protagonist in the 26 Hambledon series books was Thomas Elphinstone Hambledon, who works for a department of the Foreign Office, usually referred to in the novels as “MI5”.

—bookseriesinorder.com/manning-coles; Wikipedia

Manning Coles was the pseudonym of two British writers, Adelaide Frances Oke Manning (1891–1959) and Cyril Henry Coles (1899–1965), who wrote many spy thrillers from the early 1940s through the early 1960s.

Manning and Coles were neighbors in East Meon, Hampshire. Coles worked for British Intelligence in both the World Wars. Manning worked for the War Office during World War I. Their first books were fairly realistic and with a touch of grimness; their postwar books perhaps suffered from an excess of lightheartedness and whimsy. Many of the original exploits were based on the real-life experiences of Coles, who lied about his age and enlisted under an assumed name in a Hampshire regiment during World War I while still a teenager. He eventually became the youngest officer in British intelligence, often working behind German lines, due to his extraordinary ability to master languages.

Manning Coles is best known for the creation of the Tommy Hambledon series which began in 1940. The fictional protagonist in the 26 Hambledon series books was Thomas Elphinstone Hambledon, who works for a department of the Foreign Office, usually referred to in the novels as “MI5”.

—bookseriesinorder.com/manning-coles; Wikipedia