It's good to see another of E Phillips Oppenheims books reprinted. I first read "The Great Impersonation" as a teen, and later started looking for other titles. Oppenheim was a prolific author; over the years I have accumulated nearly 100 of his titles from various used bookstores. Something about his writing style seems to set him a notch above the other suspense and intrigue writers of his era. There are a few clunkers in the bunch, but "Havoc" isn't one of them.

Havoc is set (and written) in 1910, when the countries of Europe were in a thicket of plots and alliances. All the pressures that lead to WWI are there, but the intrigues and secret treaties create an interesting background to the twists and turns of the plot. The story revolves around the creation of a secret alliance between Germany, Russia, and Austria. The English hope to split Russia away by holding the Czar to his previous public commitments, but they need proof of what was done to create the pressure.