author
Man who dined with the Kaiser
A mysterious World War I-era writer turned a single daring episode into an unforgettable pen name. Best known for My Secret Service (1916), this anonymous journalist wrote about traveling through wartime Europe and the Ottoman Empire under dangerous conditions.
1 Audiobook
My Secret Service: Vienna, Sophia, Constantinople, Nish, Belgrade, Asia Minor, etc.
by Man who dined with the Kaiser
About the author
Published under the pseudonym "The Man Who Dined with the Kaiser," the author of My Secret Service chose to keep his real name out of print. Contemporary coverage from 1916 described him as a Daily Mail correspondent whose trip to Nish during World War I led to the nickname after he attended a banquet with Kaiser Wilhelm II.
Because the author stayed anonymous, only a few solid details can be confirmed. My Secret Service was published in 1916 and presents itself as a first-person account of wartime travel through places including Vienna, Constantinople, Nish, Belgrade, and Asia Minor, mixing journalism, observation, and adventure.
That air of mystery is part of the book's appeal. Instead of a fully documented public life, what remains is the voice on the page: a vivid, immediate account from an unnamed reporter writing close to the events he describes.