Page "Simon Templar" Paragraph 20

The period of the books begins in the 1920s and moves to the 1970s as the 50 books progress ( the character being seemingly ageless ).

In early books most activities are illegal, although directed at villains.

In later books, this becomes less so.

In books written during World War II, The Saint was recruited by the government to help track spies and similar undercover work.

Later he became a cold warrior fighting Communism.

The quality of writing also changes ; early books have a freshness which becomes replaced by cynicism in later works.

A few Saint stories crossed into science fiction and fantasy, " The Man Who Liked Ants " and the early novel The Last Hero being examples.

When early Saint books were republished in the 1960s to the 1980s, it was not uncommon to see freshly written introductions by Charteris apologizing for the out-of-date tone ; according to a Charteris " apology " in a 1969 paperback of Featuring the Saint, he attempted to update some earlier stories when they were reprinted but gave up and let them sit as period pieces.

The 1963 edition of the short story collection The Happy Highwayman contains examples of abandoned revisions ; in one story published in the 1930s (" The Star Producers "), references to actors of the 1930s were replaced for 1963 with names of current movie stars ; another 1930s-era story, " The Man Who Was Lucky ", added references to atomic power.