William Haggard (born Croydon 11 August 1907, died Frinton-on-Sea 27 October 1993) was the pseudonym of Richard Henry Michael Clayton, the son of the Rev. Henry James Clayton and Mabel Sarah Clayton. He was an English writer of fictional spy thrillers set in the 1960s through the 1980s, or, as the writer

H. R. F. Keating Henry Reymond Fitzwalter Keating (31 October 1926 – 27 March 2011) was an English crime fiction writer most notable for his series of novels featuring Inspector Ghote of the Bombay CID. Life Keating, known as "Harry" to friends and family, ...

called them, "action novels of international power." Like C. P. Snow, he was a quintessentially British Establishment figure who had been a civil servant in India, and his books vigorously put forth his perhaps idiosyncratic points of view. The principle character in most of his novels is the urbane

Colonel Charles Russell William Haggard (born Croydon 11 August 1907, died Frinton-on-Sea 27 October 1993) was the pseudonym of Richard Henry Michael Clayton, the son of the Rev. Henry James Clayton and Mabel Sarah Clayton. He was an English writer of fictional spy th ...

of the fictional Security Executive, (clearly based on the actual MI5 or Security Service), who moves easily and gracefully along Snow's Corridors of Power in Whitehall. During the years of the fictional spy mania initially begun by the James Bond stories, Haggard was considered by most critics to be at the very top of the field. Keating, however, also observes that "...the books were fore-runners in a trend that was noticeable in both British and American crime writing from the late 1960's onwards, a turning of the tide to flow to the right. After the revolution carried out in the late 1930s by

Eric Ambler Eric Clifford Ambler OBE (28 June 1909 – 22 October 1998) was an English author of thrillers, in particular spy novels, who introduced a new realism to the genre. Also working as a screenwriter, Ambler used the pseudonym Eliot Reed for book ...

in the espionage field... a revolution which swung crime writing generally to the left... there had been little change. With the Haggard books the first signs of a silent swing began to show." Writing about his fiction, Haggard himself said:

My novels are chiefly novels of suspense with a background of international politics. A Colonel Charles Russell of the Security Executive, a not entirely imaginary British counter-espionage organization, while not a protagonist in the technical sense, holds the story line together in the background by his operations, while the characters in the foreground carry the action."From the back flap of the dust jacket of the Walker and Company American edition of ''The Conspirators'', New York, 1967

Life

Born in Croydon, Surrey, Haggard was educated at Lancing College and received his B.A. from

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

. He entered the Indian Civil Service and eventually became a judge. He was then on the General Staff in the Indian Army from 1939 to 1946, at least part of the time as an intelligence officer, rising to Lieutenant Colonel. He obtained a M.A. from Oxford University in 1947 and served on the Board of Trade from 1947 to 1969, from 1965 to 1969 being the Controller of Enemy Property. He married Barbara Myfanwy Sant in 1936; they had one son and one daughter. Haggard's writing career began in 1958 with the publication of his first novel, Slow Burner. He chose his ''nom de plume'' from his mother's maiden name, Haggard; she was said to be a distant relative of the well-known Victorian adventure writer

H. Rider Haggard Sir Henry Rider Haggard (; 22 June 1856 – 14 May 1925) was an English writer of adventure fiction romances set in exotic locations, predominantly Africa, and a pioneer of the lost world literary genre. He was also involved in land reform ...

Books

Colonel Charles Russell series

# '' Slow Burner'' (1958) # '' Venetian Blind'' (1959) # ''

The Arena An arena is an enclosed area that showcases theatre, musical performances or sporting events. Arena, ARENA, or the Arena may also refer to: Places and jurisdictions * Arena, Saskatchewan, Canada * Arena, Iran * Arena, Calabria, Italy * La ...

'' (1961) # ''

The Unquiet Sleep ''The Unquiet Sleep'' is a 1962 suspense novel by British author William Haggard which was published in England by Cassell and in the United States by Ives Washburn. It is the 4th novel in a series of 21 books that involve urbane protagonist, C ...

'' (1962) # ''

The High Wire ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in E ...

'' (1963) # '' The Antagonists'' (1964) # ''The Powder Barrel'' (1965) # ''The Hard Sell'' (1965) # ''The Power House'' (1966) # ''The Conspirators'' (1967) # ''A Cool Day for Killing'' (1968) # ''The Hardliners'' (1970) # ''The Bitter Harvest'' (1971) aka ''Too Many Enemies'' # ''The Old Masters'' (1973) aka ''The Notch on the Knife'' # ''The Scorpion's Tail'' (1975) # ''Yesterday's Enemy'' (1976) # ''The Poison People'' (1977) # ''Visa to Limbo'' (1978) # ''The Median Line'' (1979) # ''The Money Men'' (1981) # '' The Mischief Makers'' (1982) # ''The Heirloom'' (1983) # ''The Need To Know'' (1984) # ''The Meritocrats'' (1985) # ''The Vendettists'' (1990)

Paul Martiny series

# ''The Protectors'' (1972) # ''The Kinsmen'' (1974)

William Wilberforce Smith series

# ''The Martello Tower'' (1986) # ''The Diplomatist'' (1987)

Other novels

* ''The Telemann Touch'' (1958) * ''Closed Circuit'' (1960) * ''The Doubtful Disciple'' (1969) * ''The Expatriates'' (1989)

References

Sources

*''Encyclopedia of Mystery and Detection'', Chris Steinbrunner and Otto Penzler, McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York, 1976, *''Twentieth Century Crime and Mystery Writers'', edited by John M. Reilly, St. Martins Press, New York, 1980, *''Who's Who in Spy Fiction'', Donald McCormick, Sphere Books Limited, London, 1979 {{DEFAULTSORT:Haggard, William English spy fiction writers 1907 births 1993 deaths 20th-century English novelists