William Le Queux

William Tufnell Le Queux (1864 - 1927) was a British journalist and writer. He was also a diplomat, an explorer, a flying buff who officiated at the first British air meeting in 1909, and a wireless pioneer who broadcast music from his own station long before radio was generally available; his claims regarding his own abilities and exploits, however, were usually exaggerated.

Related Topics:
1864 - 1927 - British

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He was born in London, and educated privately and in Italy. He studied painting in Paris. He was foreign editor of The Globe newspaper during the 1890s. He subsequently wrote professionally. He reported on the First Balkan War.

Related Topics:
Italy - Paris - The Globe - First Balkan War

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He wrote in the genres of mystery, thriller, and espionage, particularly in the years leading up to World War I, when his partnership with British publishing magnate Lord Northcliffe led to the serialised publication of pulp-fiction spy stories such as The Invasion of 1910, The Poisoned Bullet, and Spies of the Kaiser. These works were examples of invasion literature, a common phenomenon in pre-WWI Europe involving fictionalised stories of possible invasion or infiltration by foreign powers; Le Queux's specialty, much appreciated by Northcliffe, was the German invasion of Great Britain. He was also the original editor of Northcliffe's War of the Nations.

Related Topics:
Mystery - Thriller - Espionage - World War I - Lord Northcliffe - Invasion literature - War of the Nations

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