Eric Ambler began his writing career in the early 1930s and quickly established a reputation as a thriller writer of extraordinary depth and originality. He is often credited as the inventor of the modern political thriller and John Le Carré once described him as "the source on which we all draw."
Ambler began his working life at an engineering firm and then as a copywriter at an advertising agency. In his spare time, he worked toward his dream of becoming a playwright. His first novel was published in 1936, he turned to writing full-time. During the war, he was seconded to the Army Film Unit where he wrote the screenplay for
The Way Ahead with Peter Ustinov, among others.