GENEVA SPY LOCATIONS AND LITERATURE

The early days of spy fiction

Season Two

once you're comfortably settled in your delegation suite, take some time to immerse yourself in this geneva related selection

Safe House Suggestions

Ashenden - W. Somerset Maugham

Like his creator, a writer called Ashenden is recruited during the First World War by a Colonel in British Intelligence known only as R and sent to neutral Switzerland to run his operations. Maugham drew directly on his own experiences in Geneva in his portrayal of Ashenden. The stories depict life in the secret world as one that's often routine, or even tedious, with occasional moments of action, which sometimes descend into farce. They are often seen as the forerunners of works by later authors known for their more gritty portrayal of spies and spying such as Greene and Le Carré. The BBC made a four-part series of Ashenden in the early 1990s.

Waiting For Sunrise - William Boyd

Boyd, who's currently riding high with his trilogy of Gabriel Dax Cold War espionage novels, tackles the First World War era in this 2012 novel. A young English actor, Lysander Rief, is recruited by British Intelligence who are on the trail of a suspected traitor. While much of the novel is set in Vienna and London, Maugham's Geneva features, with the Beau-Rivage referred to as the 'Beau-Espionage', a place to be avoided.

The Geneva Trap - Stella Rimington

One of the Liz Carlyle series of thrillers written by the former Director General of MI5. In this outing, MI5 officer Carlyle travels to Geneva to meet a Russian intelligence officer, and sees for herself the challenges of arranging a clandestine meeting in a city that's a hub for espionage and intelligence activities.

The Champions

For a lighter evening this 1960's series follows three agents of Nemesis, a United Nations law-enforcement agency based in Geneva, who survive a plane crash in the Himalayas and return with abilities they must keep secret. All 30 episodes are available on DVD - great if you're lying low for some time...

For those seeking further inspiration, we recommend checking out Spybrary

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Key Locations

join us as we explore the secret side of this sophisticated city

Beau-Rivage, Quai du Mont-Blanc 13, 1201 Genève

One of Geneva's grand lakefront hotels since 1865, with marble columns, rediscovered frescoes and a view across the harbour to the Jet d'Eau. In the League of Nations years the British delegation stayed here (the French favoured the Hôtel des Bergues, the Germans the Métropole), and a delegation's lounge was where diplomats met, talked and were overheard.

Hôtel d'Angleterre, Quai du Mont-Blanc 17, 1201 Genève

A few doors along the same quay, a smaller hotel of 1872 whose name promised British travellers the comforts of home. During the First World War it was the base of Somerset Maugham, who worked for the British Secret Service from a third-floor room for roughly eight months, with his profession as cover, and took the steamer across to Thonon-les-Bains in France to report. Out of it came a series of short stories about Ashenden, the fictional spy inspired by Maugham's experiences.

CGN Belle Époque paddle steamers, Genève Mont-Blanc landing stage, Quai du Mont-Blanc, 1201 Genève

A short walk north along the quay is the landing stage for the lake's Belle Époque fleet: paddle steamers built between 1904 and 1927 and still in service with their steam engines, panelling and brass, among them the Savoie of 1914. These are the boats of Maugham's war, when slipping between neutral Switzerland and the French shore was central to his work. Belle Époque sailings are seasonal and in winter can shrink to a single weekend sailing, so check the timetable first.

Hôtel Arbez (L'Arbézie franco-suisse), 601 rue de la Frontière, La Cure, 39220 Les Rousses, France

A family-run mountain hotel with the Franco-Swiss border running through its dining room, staircase and several bedrooms, thanks to an 1862 treaty. During the occupation the Germans held the French side, but the upper floor lay in Switzerland, and Max and Angèle Arbez used the stairs to bring Jews, Resistance fighters and Allied airmen to safety. In the early 1960s, French and Algerian FLN negotiators met here in secret, the French entering through France, the Algerians through Switzerland. Venture up the stairs and cross the border.

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Pre-Mission Briefing

A SELECTION OF RECOMMENDED READING TO PREPARE FOR YOUR MISSION

The Secret Lives of Somerset Maugham - Selina Hastings

This acclaimed biography draws on Maugham's personal correspondence as well as the recollections of his daughter. Hastings explores her subject's intelligence work - Geneva was only one part of it - and how it inspired his writing. A great read for those who want to find out more about the life and works of a writer whose star has somewhat faded.

MI6: The History of the Secret Intelligence Service 1909–1949 - Keith Jeffery

Jeffery's work is a comprehensive history of the early days of MI6. In it, he covers the story of Maugham and his alter ego Ashenden, as well as those of other authors who drew on their intelligence work for inspiration in a section entitled 'Spilling the Beans'.

Six: A History of Britain's Secret Intelligence Service - Michael Smith

Another lively history of the early days of MI6, subtitled Murder and Mayhem 1909-1939. Smith devotes a chapter to 'Hunting the Hun from Switzerland', detailing MI6's operations against their German counterparts in Geneva and other Swiss cities.