The main character of this book was one of the most talented and successful writers in England in the 20th century. His life was full and varied—packed with love and hatred, friendship and enmity, travels and encounters. Before becoming a writer, Maugham worked as a doctor, took part in World War I, and then became an intelligence agent, having been in Russia during the revolutionary events of 1917. His plays and novels became classics and remain popular to this day.