The Great Impersonation

The year is 1913. The disgraced and formerly penniless aristocrat Sir Everard Dominey returns from German East Africa a reformed and wealthy man determined to take his place in English society. But is he Sir Everard or the German spy, Baron Leopold von Ragastein? Leopold, educated at Eton and Oxford with the Englishman, bears a striking resemblance to Dominey and was often taken as his double at school. After a chance encounter in Africa, one of them has returned. But who?

The Great Impersonation is probably the most famous spy novel of all time. This is marvelous reading with its fast moving plot and its descriptions of the rich life of English aristocrats before the Great War, and its bold characters. Besides the Kaiser and a whole host of Dukes, Duchesses, Ambassadors, German agents and silly young Englishman, there?s the Princess Eiderstrom, ?one of the most passionate women in Europe,? desperately in love with Leopold; Sir Everard?s insane wife who has bowed to kill him if he should every return home; the frightening Mrs. Unthank, Lady Dominey?s only companion, and her son, Roger Unthank, whom every one believes Sir Everard murdered, and whose spirit haunts the ancestral home.

Known as ?the Prince of Storytellers,? E. Phillips Oppenheim (1866-1946) was the English author of 116 novels and 39 short ?story collections. The Great Impersonation, his most famous work, has been made and remade into successful movies many times. A vivid, convincing thriller, this book will appeal to scores of readers brought up on Ian Fleming, Len Deighton, and Frederick Forsyth.