Anniversaries, 1 November
Arthur Morrison
Arthur Morrison was one of Britain's best-known authors around the turn of the last century on account of his realistic portrayals of London's East End and his stories about the private detective Martin Hewitt.
Morrison was born in Poplar, a working-class district in London's East End. His father was an engine fitter. Morrison was ashamed of his background, and he later invented details about his childhood and parents. As a result, little is known about his early life except that he did...
Theme article
History of crime fiction
By: Johan Wopenka
Literary figure
Charlie Muffin
Gender: Male
He was recruited by the British Intelligence Service already in the 1950s and since then has been a spy in a long suite of well-written, satirical novels by Brian Freemantle. But Charlie Muffin is no super-agent: he is shabby and looks so ordinary that nobody notices him. His bosses try to sacrifice him several times, and he is sometimes hunted just as eagerly by his own side as by the Russians.