They came to Baghdad

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They Came to Baghdad (original title They Came to Baghdad ) is the 41st novel by Agatha Christie . It first appeared in the UK on March 5, 1951 at the Collins Crime Club, and later that year in the US at Dodd, Mead and Company . The German first edition was published in 1953 by Scherz Verlag (Bern) with the translation by Hedwig von Wurzian, which is still used today.

The novel was inspired by Christie's own trips to Baghdad with her second husband, archaeologist Max Mallowan , and is one of the few of the writers who are more spy novels than classic detective novels. Other examples of this genre in the author's work are A Dangerous Adversary , The Man in the Brown Suit and Passenger to Frankfurt .

action

A secret summit of the heads of state of the superpowers is to take place in Baghdad. But the plans have been betrayed and a fascist underground organization wants to sabotage the meeting. Things get complicated when the enthusiastic young tourist Victoria Jones finds the dying British agent Henry "Fakir" Carmichael at her hotel. His last words are: "Lucifer - Basra - Lefarge ..."

Victoria begins her own investigation. She discovers that Lucifer is referring to her supposed lover, Edward, who is behind the conspiracy, and Basra means the city of Basra. In Lefarge turns out that she has understood the name wrong and Madame Defarge is meant a character from Charles Dickens ' novel A Tale of Two Cities (A Tale of Two Cities), which Camouflaged embassies had knitted. Carmichael's scarf, which is also camouflaged, indicates where important documents are hidden. The documents are found with a sheikh in Karbala and can be presented at the summit.

Victoria goes back to the dig with Richard and the two become a couple.

people

  • Victoria Jones, a young typist, beautiful and intelligent
  • Edward Goring, a young ex-pilot
  • Henry Carmichael, a courageous British agent
  • Richard Baker, a young and intelligent archaeologist
  • Pauncefoot Jones, a famous archaeologist, a little confused
  • Rathbone, leader of a gang of smugglers
  • Dakin, head of British intelligence

Major expenses

  • 1951 Collins Crime Club (London), March 5, 1951
  • 1951 Dodd Mead and Company (New York)
  • 1953 German first edition by Scherz Verlag (Bern)

Film adaptations

This novel is one of the few Christie novels that was not made into a film.

Audio books

  • 2005 You came to Baghdad (3 CDs): abridged reading. Translated from the English by Tanja Handels. Read by Susanne Schröder. Director: Toni Nirschl; The Hörverlag (Munich)
  • 2008 You came to Baghdad (5 CDs): only unabridged reading. Speaker: Hans Eckardt. Director: Markus Langer. Translation from English by Frau von Wurzian. Publishing house and studio for audio book productions (Marburg)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The Observer March 4, 1951 (Page 7)
  2. John Cooper and BA Pyke. Detective Fiction - the collector's guide : Second Edition (Pages 82 and 87) Scholar Press. 1994. ISBN 0-85967-991-8
  3. American Tribute to Agatha Christie
  4. a b German first edition in the catalog of the Swiss National Library
  5. ^ Audiobook (licensed) in the catalog of the German National Library
  6. Audiobook (complete) in the catalog of the German National Library