Prelude for War

Prelude for War is a mystery novel by Leslie Charteris featuring his Robin Hood-inspired crime fighter, Simon Templar, alias "The Saint". The book was first published in the United Kingdom in 1938 by Hodder and Stoughton, and in the United States by The Crime Club the same year. Previously, the novel had been serialized in the American magazine Cosmopolitan. Publication of the book marked the 10th anniversary of the Simon Templar character. Later... more

Prelude for War is a mystery novel by Leslie Charteris featuring his Robin Hood-inspired crime fighter, Simon Templar, alias "The Saint". The book was first published in the United Kingdom in 1938 by Hodder and Stoughton, and in the United States by The Crime Club the same year. Previously, the novel had been serialized in the American magazine Cosmopolitan. Publication of the book marked the 10th anniversary of the Simon Templar character. Later editions of the book were retitled The Saint and the Sinners and The Saint Plays with Fire. This was the last time a Simon Templar novel or short story collection would be published under different titles (although a later novella, The Saint and the Sizzling Saboteur from The Saint on Guard would later be published individually). A peaceful moonlight drive in the English countryside is interrupted when Simon Templar and Patricia Holm listen to a disturbing radio broadcast from France by a would-be dictator who plans to make France the latest... less