Flandry of Terra

From the front flap of the Gregg Press edition: "Mankind had spread widely through the galaxy long before the birth of Captain Sir Dominic Flandry of Terra's Imperial Naval Flight Corps. Then came a time of troubles out of which eventually arose the Terran Empire, rich and peaceful. Now the Empire has grown old. It wants nothing but peace in which to enjoy the pleasures of its wealth. No longer are the barbarians and the rival nonhuman powers held at bay. Only a few devoted men risk their lives to stop the march against mankind. Captain Flandry is one of these. Spying, intriguing, fighting - joking, drinking, wenching - he goes from world to world on his lonely missions. One mission involves a world of ocean, settled by humans of African descent long before. Next, rumors reach Flandry of suspicious goings on through the chilly plains and polar snows of Altai, the lost ice world settled by clans of Mongols. The third voyage is to Unan Besar, a warm, rainy planet whose civilization has developed from a Malayan stock. These are three swift-paced novelettes set on exotic worlds of the future. But, strange through they be, the planets are scientifically possible. And the cultures upon the reflect the infinite variety of man."