10 JANUARY 1969, Page 26

No. 535: Thriller

COMPETITION

Douglas Hurd and Andrew Osmond last year published a slick political thriller, Send Rim Victorious, which imagined Britain, in the late 'seventies, sending troops into Rhodesia and suffering the reaction at home in the shape of plots, riots and a mutiny at Chelsea Barracks. Their latest book, to be published this month, concerns a Chinese attempt to wrest Hong Kong from its British tenants. Competitors are invited to imagine similar thrills behind the scenes occurring at the current Commonwealth Conference in London. Prizes for the best ex- tract ,from a thriller on the subject (maximum 150 words)—to be in, marked 'Competition No: 535,' by 20 January.