The Great Impersonation by E. Phillips Oppenheim

The Great Impersonation is the story of a German agent who enters Great Britain by impersonating a British citizen whom he very strongly resembles. This book was written in 1920, and the time period in the novel is about the years 1912 - 1914.

Everard Dominey and Leopold Van Ragastein had attended school together in England,  and everyone said that they strongly resembled each other. Now they were grown men in German East Africa, and their lives had diverged. Baronet Everard Dominey had fled England after it was believed that he had murdered Roger Unthank who had disappeared. Dominey's wife Rosamund had developed mental problems after Roger's disappearance and vowed never to see Everard again. Everard had wandered around the world living a life of dissipation. Leopold was now Major General Baron Leopold Van Regastein and was commander of the colony. He had been banned from entering Germany again because he killed a man in a duel over Princess Stephanie Eiderstrom, a Hungarian princess and his lover. Where Everard was weak and flabby and showing signs of his drinking, Leopold was strong, active, and showed every sign of great intelligence and determination.

Leopold decided  that since he strongly resembled Everard that he would enter England posing as Everard. The real Everard was made to disappear, and Leopold took over his life. Whereas Everard was a spendthrift and has impoverished his estate, Leopold brought a lot of money from the German government, and paid off the debts on the estate. Then he had to convince those who had know Everard that he was Everard and had overcome his bad habits through healthy living. Most people believed him and most amazingly Rosamund overcame her morbid fear of Everard.

The imposter at first was not sure what his mission for the German government was. He took a trip to Germany and met with the Kaiser who told him that he should make friends with Prince Terniloff who was the German ambassador to England, and who was working for peace and understanding between the two countries. The imposter's mission was endangered when he encountered Princess Eiderstrom again. She had great difficulty in accepting his assumed identity, and wanted to marry him right away even though in his new role, he was married to Rosamund. Indeed, Rosamund was beginning to seem like a better choice for a wife than the princess.

Then World War I began. Everard now has to deal with political events along with the complications in this personal life. Oppenheim brings it all to a surprising and successful conclusion.

This is a readable novel. If you are a fan of spy stories with a lot of melodrama, you will enjoy this book. It is available in both print and ebook form.

I do not especially care for spy stories which is what I initially thought this book was. However this book developed into a story of love and romance among the very wealthy which I do not especially care for either. There are also melodramatic elements such as haunted forests and screams in the night which are not on my list of favorite things in novels. So all in all, it is not really my kind of book.