The Tickencote Treasure

The Tickencote Treasure (1903) is a work of adventure fiction by Anglo-French writer William Le Queux. Published at the beginning of Le Queux's career as a leading author of popular thrillers, The Tickencote Treasure is a story of piracy, mystery, and suspense on the high seas. Using his own research and experience as a journalist and adventurer, Le Queux crafts an accessible, entertaining tale for readers in search of a literary escape. Known for his works of fiction and nonfiction on the possibility of Germany invading Britain-a paranoia common in the early twentieth century-William Le Queux also wrote dozens of thrillers and adventure novels for a dedicated public audience. Although critical acclaim eluded him, popular success made him one of England's bestselling writers. In The Tickencote Treasure, a struggling doctor gets the chance of a lifetime when an old sea captain recruits him for a voyage to Africa. Unsure at first, Paul Pickering accepts his offer, embarking on a journey that brings him to the coast of Algeria. After several uneventful days at sea, the crew is surprised to discover a strange ship floating toward them. Although it resembles an old Elizabethan vessel, the hull looks relatively new. Thinking it abandoned, a group of sailors boards the phantom ship to find it hermetically sealed. Hoping for treasure, they go below deck to find a strange old man instead. As the story unfolds, an atmosphere of mystery and an ancient legend threaten to overwhelm Pickering and his comrades. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of William Le Queux's The Tickencote Treasure is a classic work of adventure fiction reimagined for modern readers.

Anglo-French journalist and author William Tufnell Le Queux was born on July 2, 1864, and died on October 13, 1927. He was also a diplomat (honorary consul for San Marino), a traveler (in Europe, the Balkans, and North Africa), a fan of flying (he presided over the first British air meeting at Doncaster in 1909), and a wireless pioneer who played music on his own station long before radio was widely available. However, he often exaggerated his own skills and accomplishments. The Great War in England in 1897 (1894), a fantasy about an invasion by France and Russia, and The Invasion of 1910 (1906), a fantasy about an invasion by Germany, are his best-known works. Le Queux was born in the city. The man who raised him was English, and his father was French. He went to school in Europe and learned art in Paris from Ignazio (or Ignace) Spiridon. As a young man, he walked across Europe and then made a living by writing for French newspapers. He moved back to London in the late 1880s and managed the magazines Gossip and Piccadilly. In 1891, he became a parliamentary reporter for The Globe. He stopped working as a reporter in 1893 to focus on writing and traveling.