One of the other titles from this series, Israel Zangwill's The Grey Wig, appears in auction records as early as 1904, yet no copy of that title down the years is noted as retaining the jacket. The street itself was surprisingly clean and empty, considering it had not been swept or maintained in many months. The book is set primarily in Hong Kong and Shanghai, and, so, knowing both of those cities well, I am biased. This UK first impression of the first edition is the correct Cagle's binding "B" (only two or three copies of binding "A" are know to exist). Elena took on a haughty British accent that could pass for a bad mix of Singaporean and American cowboy.

One of only 1500 of the 3000 copies issued in the first printing with the windmill device on the title page and without "Reserved for the Colonies only" on theÂverso of the half title, and including the 32 pages of advertisements at rear which appear only in some copies. Stones cut from all different shapes and sizes, mashed together like a giant puzzle and worn down after centuries of use, made the path rough and uneven. Fortunately, they were still at the outskirts, or else the jump down from the roofs would have been suicide. The team scaled the opposite wall and tightrope walked gingerly along the perimeter until they reached the second-story balcony of the adjacent building. So when an elderly man emerges from the sea, claiming to know secrets he will share only with the Governor, a young MI6 agent, Joe Lennox, sees the chance to make his reputation.The company published several works in series, including translations into English under the branding of "Heinemann's International Library", edited by Edmund Gosse. Ultimately the real purpose of the Typhoon operation is revealed to Joe as is the relationship between Chinese professor, the americans who spirited him away and the highly complex web of international political intrigue that leads, as always, to the insatiable thirst for oil in the West. Also it has the correct spacing of 10 mm as measured between "Conrad" and "Heinemann" on the spine of the boards as mentioned in Cagle A8b(1)].

Lennox is an engaging and likeable character, and his relations with colleagues, counterparts from other agencies and also the 'civilian' bystanders whom he deals with are all plausible. I read in 6 hours on a flight, never too detailed where it needn't be, it keeps you engaged through to the last page. Typhoon is the first inside account of the RAF's long war against ISIS; a campaign in which any mistake could have devastating consequences.

Joe, having lost his girlfriend to Miles and from postings across the Far East, finds a desk at Vauxhall Cross stifling, as he tells Waterfield, the former Head of Station in Hong Kong.