The Dark Frontier
Encyclopedia
The Dark Frontier is Eric Ambler
's first novel, about whose genesis he writes: "[…] Became press agent for film star, but soon after joined big London
advertising agency as copywriter and "ideas man". During next few years wrote incessantly on variety of subjects ranging from baby food
to non-ferrous alloys. Have travelled in most countries of Europe, been stranded in Marseilles and nearly drowned in the Bay of Naples
. Decided, on a rainy day in Paris
, to write a thriller. Result was The Dark Frontier."
Based on the development of weapon
ry in the year 1936, The Dark Frontier was one of the first novels to predict the invention of a nuclear bomb and its consequences. Ambler evidently had no knowledge of what producing an atomic bomb may involve (even professional physicists at the time had only a vague idea). The book makes no mention of uranium
or any other radioactive material, and makes instead the assumption that setting off an atomic bomb would involve a considerable electric charge. Still, Ambler could be credited with having become aware, before many others, of this coming weapon which was to have such a profound effect on the entire world, and his depiction of scientists in a secret hideout building such a bomb could be considered a preview of the Manhattan Project
- and he correctly surmised that refugees from Nazi Germany
might get involved in such a project.
somewhere in a mountainous region of the Balkans
bordering Romania
. There, a peasant revolt
succeeds in overthrowing the country's dictatorial regime and in establishing freedom and justice for all its citizens. Throughout modern history Ixania, a "God-forsaken country", has preserved its political independence because of its lack of natural resources and, generally, its comparative irrelevance in economic matters. However, due to the defection
from Nazi Germany of Jacob Kassen, a nuclear scientist, the Countess Schverzinski and her brother, Prince Ladislaus, who effectively run the country, are in possession of a formula to build an atomic bomb (the "Kassen secret"), a fact they wish to exploit for their country's but also their own personal benefit.
Two groups of people want to prevent exactly that. There is Simon Groom, a representative of Messrs. Cator & Bliss Ltd., a British armament manufacturer, who is sent to Ixania to get hold of the Kassen secret by hook or by crook. He enlists the services of Professor Henry Barstow, an English physicist who is to travel with him to Ixania to determine whether the secret papers whose theft he plans to commission are authentic and worth the money.
However, Henry Barstow seems to be a cover name for Conway Carruthers, a Doc Savage
-sque superhero
who has realized that the Kassen secret poses "a serious menace to world peace
" and who, accordingly, has made it his job to rid the world of that danger by destroying all copies of Kassen's papers. His mission is to prevent the manufacture of the bomb and to "preserve civilization
". Carruthers's charismatic authority
attracts the attention of William L. Casey, an American journalist stationed in Zovgorod, the capital of Ixania. Originally only interested in a good story, Casey becomes Carruthers's quasi-assistant, a change Casey himself describes as his "transition from newspaper man to desperado
".
Siding with the peasant revolutionaries, Carruthers becomes the leader
of the operation and thus the de facto
leader of the peasants. On several occasions his and Casey's lives are in danger, repeatedly they are "standing in front of the wrong end of a gun", but it is always Carruthers's almost superhuman
intelligence and skills that save them. Within only one day it turns out that, with the old government having stepped down, the revolution has been both successful and unbloody. Kassen is dead, and all copies of his secret except one have been destroyed. The one copy that has survived is Countess Schverzinski's, and she is driving her Mercedes
at breakneck speed along a dark and narrow mountain road, with the only intention of fleeing the country. However, Carruthers and Casey are following her in Groom's car (which they have stolen), but before they can catch up with her and stop her vehicle she has an accident, is catapulted out of her car, and dies. The wreck of her Mercedes catches fire, so all Carruthers has to do when he arrives at the scene is retrieve the last remaining copy of the bomb-building manual from the Countess's body and cast it into the flames.
of the brand of adventure thriller Ambler enjoyed as an adolescent but came to find rather silly when he reached adulthood. In other words, Ambler wrote an intentionally "bad" novel. However, since both the writers and the writing that is parodied have been long forgotten, it is difficult for 21st century readers to fully appreciate the book's intended comic nature. There are, however, some signs in the novel that somewhat elucidate Ambler's intention; for example Carruthers's unrequited love for the evil Countess Schverzinski, which makes him want to put a bullet through his head when he finds out that she is dead, a suicide
which can only be prevented through Casey's intervention.
The dualism of Henry Barstow - an eminent professor but a rather bumbling man of action - and the virtually superhuman Conway Carruthers seems to prefigure the Clark Kent
/Superman
dualism which was to profoundly influence American and worldwide popular culture
(the first Superman comics appeared a few years after Ambler's book). Ambler himself, in later books, preferred to have as his protagonists bumbling Barstow-type amateurs, who need to deal with dangerous situations without superhero help.
Depiction of the country of Ixania clearly draws on the long-standing sub-genre of Ruritanian romance
, derived from Ruritania
in Anthony Hope
's "The Prisoner of Zenda
" and finding many followers and imitatators in the early decades of the Twentieth Century. At the time of writing, its popularity was already waning, and Ambler clearly intended a parody, though using many elements of the established genre.
Eric Ambler
Eric Clifford Ambler OBE was an influential British author of spy novels who introduced a new realism to the genre. Ambler also used the pseudonym Eliot Reed for books co-written with Charles Rodda.-Life:...
's first novel, about whose genesis he writes: "[…] Became press agent for film star, but soon after joined big London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
advertising agency as copywriter and "ideas man". During next few years wrote incessantly on variety of subjects ranging from baby food
Baby food
Baby food is any food, other than breastmilk or infant formula, that is made specifically for infants, roughly between the ages of four to six months to 2 years. The food comes in multiple varieties and tastes, can be produced by many manufacturers, or may be table food that the rest of the family...
to non-ferrous alloys. Have travelled in most countries of Europe, been stranded in Marseilles and nearly drowned in the Bay of Naples
Gulf of Naples
The Gulf of Naples is a c. 15 km wide gulf located in the south western coast of Italy, . It opens to the west into the Mediterranean Sea. It is bordered on the north by the cities of Naples and Pozzuoli, on the east by Mount Vesuvius, and on the south by the Sorrentine Peninsula and the main...
. Decided, on a rainy day in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, to write a thriller. Result was The Dark Frontier."
Based on the development of weapon
Weapon
A weapon, arm, or armament is a tool or instrument used with the aim of causing damage or harm to living beings or artificial structures or systems...
ry in the year 1936, The Dark Frontier was one of the first novels to predict the invention of a nuclear bomb and its consequences. Ambler evidently had no knowledge of what producing an atomic bomb may involve (even professional physicists at the time had only a vague idea). The book makes no mention of uranium
Uranium
Uranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons...
or any other radioactive material, and makes instead the assumption that setting off an atomic bomb would involve a considerable electric charge. Still, Ambler could be credited with having become aware, before many others, of this coming weapon which was to have such a profound effect on the entire world, and his depiction of scientists in a secret hideout building such a bomb could be considered a preview of the Manhattan Project
Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a research and development program, led by the United States with participation from the United Kingdom and Canada, that produced the first atomic bomb during World War II. From 1942 to 1946, the project was under the direction of Major General Leslie Groves of the US Army...
- and he correctly surmised that refugees from Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
might get involved in such a project.
Outline of the plot
The novel is set in the mid-1930s (1934 or 1935) in Ixania, a small fictional countryFictional country
A fictional country is a country that is made up for fictional stories, and does not exist in real life, or one that people believe in without proof....
somewhere in a mountainous region of the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
bordering Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
. There, a peasant revolt
Peasant revolt
Peasant, Peasants' or Popular is variously paired with Revolt, Uprising and War and may refer to :*Daze Village Uprising 209 BC*Yellow Turban Rebellion 184...
succeeds in overthrowing the country's dictatorial regime and in establishing freedom and justice for all its citizens. Throughout modern history Ixania, a "God-forsaken country", has preserved its political independence because of its lack of natural resources and, generally, its comparative irrelevance in economic matters. However, due to the defection
Defection
In politics, a defector is a person who gives up allegiance to one state or political entity in exchange for allegiance to another. More broadly, it involves abandoning a person, cause or doctrine to whom or to which one is bound by some tie, as of allegiance or duty.This term is also applied,...
from Nazi Germany of Jacob Kassen, a nuclear scientist, the Countess Schverzinski and her brother, Prince Ladislaus, who effectively run the country, are in possession of a formula to build an atomic bomb (the "Kassen secret"), a fact they wish to exploit for their country's but also their own personal benefit.
Two groups of people want to prevent exactly that. There is Simon Groom, a representative of Messrs. Cator & Bliss Ltd., a British armament manufacturer, who is sent to Ixania to get hold of the Kassen secret by hook or by crook. He enlists the services of Professor Henry Barstow, an English physicist who is to travel with him to Ixania to determine whether the secret papers whose theft he plans to commission are authentic and worth the money.
However, Henry Barstow seems to be a cover name for Conway Carruthers, a Doc Savage
Doc Savage
Doc Savage is a fictional character originally published in American pulp magazines during the 1930s and 1940s. He was created by publisher Henry W. Ralston and editor John L...
-sque superhero
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
who has realized that the Kassen secret poses "a serious menace to world peace
World peace
World Peace is an ideal of freedom, peace, and happiness among and within all nations and/or people. World peace is an idea of planetary non-violence by which nations willingly cooperate, either voluntarily or by virtue of a system of governance that prevents warfare. The term is sometimes used to...
" and who, accordingly, has made it his job to rid the world of that danger by destroying all copies of Kassen's papers. His mission is to prevent the manufacture of the bomb and to "preserve civilization
Civilization
Civilization is a sometimes controversial term that has been used in several related ways. Primarily, the term has been used to refer to the material and instrumental side of human cultures that are complex in terms of technology, science, and division of labor. Such civilizations are generally...
". Carruthers's charismatic authority
Charismatic authority
The sociologist Max Weber defined charismatic authority as "resting on devotion to the exceptional sanctity, heroism or exemplary character of an individual person, and of the normative patterns or order revealed or ordained by him." Charismatic authority is one of three forms of authority laid out...
attracts the attention of William L. Casey, an American journalist stationed in Zovgorod, the capital of Ixania. Originally only interested in a good story, Casey becomes Carruthers's quasi-assistant, a change Casey himself describes as his "transition from newspaper man to desperado
Outlaw
In historical legal systems, an outlaw is declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, this takes the burden of active prosecution of a criminal from the authorities. Instead, the criminal is withdrawn all legal protection, so that anyone is legally empowered to persecute...
".
Siding with the peasant revolutionaries, Carruthers becomes the leader
Leadership
Leadership has been described as the “process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task". Other in-depth definitions of leadership have also emerged.-Theories:...
of the operation and thus the de facto
De facto
De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...
leader of the peasants. On several occasions his and Casey's lives are in danger, repeatedly they are "standing in front of the wrong end of a gun", but it is always Carruthers's almost superhuman
Superhuman
Superhuman can mean an improved human, for example, by genetic modification, cybernetic implants, or as what humans might evolve into, in the near or distant future...
intelligence and skills that save them. Within only one day it turns out that, with the old government having stepped down, the revolution has been both successful and unbloody. Kassen is dead, and all copies of his secret except one have been destroyed. The one copy that has survived is Countess Schverzinski's, and she is driving her Mercedes
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...
at breakneck speed along a dark and narrow mountain road, with the only intention of fleeing the country. However, Carruthers and Casey are following her in Groom's car (which they have stolen), but before they can catch up with her and stop her vehicle she has an accident, is catapulted out of her car, and dies. The wreck of her Mercedes catches fire, so all Carruthers has to do when he arrives at the scene is retrieve the last remaining copy of the bomb-building manual from the Countess's body and cast it into the flames.
Analysis
It is an obvious fact that Ambler's subsequent novels are quite different from The Dark Frontier—not so much in subject matter but most certainly in style and atmosphere. Critics as well as Ambler fans (and the author himself in an Introduction to the novel) have pointed out that The Dark Frontier was meant to be a parodyParody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of the brand of adventure thriller Ambler enjoyed as an adolescent but came to find rather silly when he reached adulthood. In other words, Ambler wrote an intentionally "bad" novel. However, since both the writers and the writing that is parodied have been long forgotten, it is difficult for 21st century readers to fully appreciate the book's intended comic nature. There are, however, some signs in the novel that somewhat elucidate Ambler's intention; for example Carruthers's unrequited love for the evil Countess Schverzinski, which makes him want to put a bullet through his head when he finds out that she is dead, a suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
which can only be prevented through Casey's intervention.
The dualism of Henry Barstow - an eminent professor but a rather bumbling man of action - and the virtually superhuman Conway Carruthers seems to prefigure the Clark Kent
Clark Kent
Clark Kent is a fictional character created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Appearing regularly in stories published by DC Comics, he debuted in Action Comics #1 and serves as the civilian and secret identity of the superhero Superman....
/Superman
Superman
Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...
dualism which was to profoundly influence American and worldwide popular culture
Popular culture
Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...
(the first Superman comics appeared a few years after Ambler's book). Ambler himself, in later books, preferred to have as his protagonists bumbling Barstow-type amateurs, who need to deal with dangerous situations without superhero help.
Depiction of the country of Ixania clearly draws on the long-standing sub-genre of Ruritanian romance
Ruritanian Romance
A Ruritanian Romance is a story set in a fictional country, usually in Central or Eastern Europe, such as the Ruritania that gave the genre its name...
, derived from Ruritania
Ruritania
Ruritania is a fictional country in central Europe which forms the setting for three books by Anthony Hope: The Prisoner of Zenda , The Heart of Princess Osra , and Rupert of Hentzau...
in Anthony Hope
Anthony Hope
Sir Anthony Hope Hawkins, better known as Anthony Hope , was an English novelist and playwright. Although he was a prolific writer, especially of adventure novels, he is remembered best for only two books: The Prisoner of Zenda and its sequel Rupert of Hentzau...
's "The Prisoner of Zenda
The Prisoner of Zenda
The Prisoner of Zenda is an adventure novel by Anthony Hope, published in 1894. The king of the fictional country of Ruritania is drugged on the eve of his coronation and thus unable to attend his own coronation. Political forces are such that in order for the king to retain his crown his...
" and finding many followers and imitatators in the early decades of the Twentieth Century. At the time of writing, its popularity was already waning, and Ambler clearly intended a parody, though using many elements of the established genre.