His work includes the novels Of Human Bondage 1915, The Moon and Sixpence 1919, and Cakes and Ale 1930; the short-story collections The Trembling of a Leaf 1921 and Ashenden 1928; and the plays Lady Frederick 1907 and Our Betters 1923. Maugham was born in Paris and studied medicine at St Thomas's, London. During World War I he was a secret agent in Russia; his Ashenden spy stories are based on this experience.
