Product Description
'A writer touched by genius' - "The New Criterion". 'Between Kipling and Fleming stands John Buchan ...the father of the modern spy thriller' - Christopher Hitchens. 'Eat your heart out, Jason Bourne' - "Evening Standard". Recalled from active service on the Western Front, Richard Hannay is sent undercover on a crucial secret mission to find a dangerous German agent at large in Britain. Disguised as a pacifist, Hannay travels from London to Glasgow to the Scottish Highlands and Islands in his search, which eventually ends in a spectacular climax above the battlefields of Europe. John Buchan's inside knowledge of trench warfare and government intelligence lend a formidable realism to this superlative spy story. This is a nail-biting classic from a master storyteller. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

The End of the Battle
Mr. Standfast, John Buchan

This novel is the sequel to "Greenmantle", written a few years later but set in 1917, so Buchan writes with the advantages of hindsight. The first part echoes the "39 Steps". Hannay is on a secret mission and travels through Scotland. The description of people and places shows Buchan's attitudes and views of other people. Buchan knows that a story can be made more interesting and provide action when the hero travels to places. "Mr. Standfast" (a character in "Pilgrim's Progress") is a reference to friend Peter Pienaar, now a prisoner in Germany. Hannay works undercover to discover the German agents behind the people working for a peaceful end to the war. He discovers this man only to have him escape the country. Was he also involved with the German spies of "39 Steps"?

In Part II Brigadier Hannay is back at the front lines. The story describes the events as he sees them. Hannay meets his friends and they work to catch the "Wild Birds", the code word for German spies working against the Allies. Were all the troubles due to their deviltry? Buchan is free in his comments and descriptions on various groups of people, more than in his earlier novels. [Was there something eating at him?] There are references to various battles that most modern readers won't understand after ninety years. Chapter XXI provides a description of the battle as experienced by Hannay. Chapter XXII finishes the story as the British hold the line against the German attack.

"39 Steps" was the first and best of this series. It inspired other films whose stories used the idea of an innocent fugitive who tries to solve a crime and evade the police. This book tells how protest movements are riddled with government agents. [Still true today?] It notes how the military tactics didn't change much since 1914, until Foch and Pétain adopted better tactics before America entered the war that Russia left. Was the world made safe for democracy?

Buchan talks against those who wanted a peaceful end to the war. Yet that is what happened in 1918. The German Emperor was forced to abdicate by the revolts of the German soldiers and people, but the rest of the aristocratic ruling class stayed in power. They soon began to plot for another war to conquer Europe, and nearly succeeded due to the policies in other countries. [In 1935 Poland and France talked about removing Hitler from power, but Britain vetoed the idea, and France would not act alone.] This next war saw an end to the colonies of France and Britain, and the rising power of America. Will this neo-colonialism lead to a decline and fall? Some claim it will, as in "The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers".

Richard Hannay, WWI-era British secret agent, saves the day
Many spy novels follow the formula set down by John Buchan at the end of WWI - exotic locations, powerful and dangerous enemies, damsels in distress, and secret plots to dominate the world.Buchan's fictitious protagonist, South African Richard Hannay, once did a job for His Majesty's gov't before the war.Now, they've asked for his help again.

Hannay is tasked with going undercover to penetrate a nest of peaceful war objectors to ferret out its suspected German ringleaders.Before long, thanks to Hannay's speaking skills, he is accepted into their group as a persuasive, but simple, speaker.Trailing mysterious figures across the English and Scottish countrysides, literally running into war movie film sets, and escaping on the wings of the wind are just part and parcel of being a secret agent deep undercover.Wanted by both German agents and the local police forces, Hannay may be the hunted, but he is still their hunter as well.However, despite busting the ring and foiling their plan the evil ringleader, Gresson, gets away.

And so Hannay returns to his job in the army rising to brigadier general when he receives the call to secret service again.This time Gresson lurks much closer behind the French lines, but remains carefully hidden.Only his saboteur agents seem to be leaving their mark.Hannay amazingly encounters Mary - his true love - breaking into the same suspicious looking chateau as he.Together they join forces to break up Gresson's fiendish plot before it is sprung.However, Hannay is tricked and Mary is captured.Again, like many spy novels after it, the hero is imprisoned in a diabolical way with the villain leaving the hero unattended.However, like always the hero manages to break free, just.In the mountains of Switzerland there still remain a few twists and turn yet to remain.

The action in the book is fairly fast-moving, but the characters are purely two-dimensional and the plot is highly predictable.Just like a 007 movie.Reading the book, though, I wasn't able to really get into it, except for a few of the scenes in the first half of the book and the Swiss episode in the last half.A much better series that takes place in the same era is Reilly: Ace of Spies, who is a British spy working in Wilhelmine Germany.Overall, this is a decent book, which serves as a prototype of many spy novels thereafter, especially the sexier James Bond series.

Best. Spy. Story. EVER.
This is my favourite Buchan book of them all! Although not as tightly-plotted as Greenmantle and The Thirty-Nine Steps, its predecessors in the series, it's still a nail-bitingly exciting adventure story sure to have you hooked for most of the first half and the whole second half. In Part One, Hannay spends some time with artistic types very familiar to those of us who enjoy 'lowbrow' fare, and then spends some time in radical political circles in Glasgow. Although it can be slow, there's lashings of satire to keep you chuckling. Then the plot begins to move--through the Scottish Highlands in a sequence akin to The Thirty-Nine Steps, but with far more characterisation and philosophy than the earlier book. During this time, Hannay realises that he's in love, pretends to be drunk, and impersonates a movie director. (No, it's not one of those spy novels with miserable characters and a depressing plot, in case you were wondering.)

The second half, however, is peerless. The stakes rise, the scene shifts to the battlefields of Europe, and the adventure is non-stop. Hannay must outwit a foe far more intelligent and ruthless than himself, try to pick up the courage to propose to lovely, clever young Mary Lamington, and manage to survive a brutal war. The climax is breathtaking and actually has you fearing for the outcome; moreover, it shows that Buchan was not in fact blissfully unaware of the horrors of trench warfare as many people, reading his optimistic work today, would think.

Superlative thriller!
In the first quarter or so of this book, I was afraid I had been duped.I found myself grumbling about how the definition of "thriller" had changed over the last 90 years.Then, somehow, mysteriously, I fell under Buchan's and Hannay's spell.I realized what a wonderful period piece this book is, and how well it captures the tense situation of the Great War.Furthermore, Buchan's writing has true literary value -- he was extremely well grounded in classical literature, English literature, and the Bible, and they all shine forth in this book.This thriller of Buchan's has deserved to stand the test of time.Now, ask yourself, do you really think that will be true of Tom Clancy?

Terrific espionage thriller -- James Bond without the girls
For those who like good, clean spy-type fun, this is a SUPERLATIVE work.Part three in the adventures of Richard Hannay (which started with Buchan's well-known "Thirty-nine Steps"), this is a first-rate thriller set on the eve of World War I, with plenty of atmosphere and hair-breadthescapes, plus an excellent dogfight climax in the skies over France.Alongwith everything else, it has some sound theological reflections (the titlebeing a character from "Pilgrim's Progress") about courage andfortitude.Highly recommended. ... Read more

Product Description
Here, from the father of spy fiction, is the grand sequence of his great master spy's adventures in four famous books: The Thirty-Nine Steps, Greenmantle, Mr. Standfast and The Three Hostages.


From the introduction by Robin W. Winks:
John Buchan is the father of the modern spy thriller. This is so even though the Hannay books are not, strictly speaking, about spies at all...They are about penetration of the enemy, about lonely escape and wild journeys, about the thin veneer that stands between civilization and barbarism even in the most elegant drawing-room in London.

The Thirty-Nine Steps shows...an attractive man, not too young...and not too old, since he must have the knowledge of maturity and substantial experience on which he will draw while being able to respond to the physical rigors of chase and pursuit. Let the hero, who appears at first to be relatively ordinary, and who thinks of himself as commonplace, be drawn against his best judgment into a mystery he only vaguely comprehends, so that he and the reader may share the growing tension together. Set him a task to perform...Place obstacles in his path the enemy, best left as ill-defined as possible, so that our hero cannot be certain who he might trust. See to it that he cannot turn to established authority to help, indeed that the police, the military, the establishment will be actively working against him.

Then set a clock ticking... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Most Enjoyable
Others have written at some length already, so I will not belabor anyone with probable reiteration.If one is a history buff, and has a feel for the WWI and immediate post-war era, as well as the temperament of the peoples of England and Europe at that time, you will find these stories enjoyable.I have no regret in obtaining this collection of four Richard Hannay adventures.The way the late John Buchan wrote, you feel that you are an observer whose senses can perceive the things described and become enveloped in the stories.Having been to some of these regions, I had an appreciation for his ability to describe the atmosphere of the places, even during aboard ship sequences.

The Four Adventures of Richard hannay: Valuable "Period Pieces"
I enjoyed all four of Buchan's works immensely, and understand the various caveats stated in the preceding reviews. Indeed, perhaps two dictionaries (one of English and one of Scots dialect) might enhance the reader's understanding of the texts. An additional consideration is that Buchan's works are clearly the product of the times in which they were written. Although others cluck their tongues about "dated dialogue", "stereotypes", "bigoted" or "biased" statements, etc., I hold no sympathy to such narrow interpretations--instead, I found these books to be refreshing and enlivening for these very same traits. In the current context of prissy, prickly, hair-trigger "sensitivity" and Political Correctness (which finds its origins in the CPUSA's own intolerance of opposing viewpoints), it's rather envigorating to experience the clear-eyed and unsparingly judgemental viewpoint which characterized participants in Britain's hegemony over the world. It was no coincedence that Britons held most of humanity in mild, parent-like contempt---how could they not? They had literally conquered (and incidentally civilized) the vast plupart of humanity and could hardly avoid acquiring a certain sense of superiority in so doing. Additionally, it is clear from their writings that Victorians and Edwardians were hardly mean-spirited and intolerant. Buchan laces his texts with admiration for non-British peoples. I would cite, for readers of this review, a paradigmatic example of this type of tolerant English hero---Sir Richard Francis Burton. In almost every way, this astonishing explorer and adventurer captured the era. If you don't have time to read Edward Rice's superb biography of Burton, view the wonderful movie "Mountains of the Moon"-----a rare respite among American movies from the computer-generated puerile trash clogging our theaters.

Burton was far bigger than life, whereas Buchan's Richard Hannay is not. He is fraught with foibles and failings and this helps reinforce the wondrous adventures he undergoes in these four novels. Other characters may seem a little less well-developed, but they nonetheless add much political, social and historical perspective. However, to equate Peter Pienaar, the Boer hunter/adventurer to Nelson Mandala is ludicrous almost beyond comment. Some characters could have been fleshed out a bit more, but they do serve their purpose(s) as plot sign-posts or movers. Buchan's having written something like "Greenmantle" mere weeks after the collapse of the Gallipoli campaign, and his intensely-apropos insight into the rise of problems centered around both the Islamic jihadists and the rage of Germans at being deprived of their "due" place of prominence in the world, and even of the bombardment of London from the air (right down to people huddling in the Tube) are simply arresting in their capacity to predict what was to transpire in the decades to follow.

Anyone who has a strong interest or curiosity to get behind the simple objective histories of this era will be greatly rewarded by reading Buchan's works. Even if it's from just the dialogue, you will recieve an excellent grounding in the attitudes and events which shaped so much of humanity's most violent century (so far!). Without spoiling any of these treasures for you, I can cite one snippet from "The Three Hostages" which encapsulates the British flair and demi-godlike courage, so sadly missing from our era: one of Dick Hannay's friends, in a surprise to all attending, reveals himself and immediately gets a leg up on the villain, Medina, in a confrontation:

"We meet again sooner than we expected. I missed my train and came to look for Dick....Lay down that pistol, please. I happened to be armed too, you see. It's no case for shooting anyhow. Do you mind if I smoke?"

Perfect. Ian Fleming never topped that. Just imagine those lines delivered in the rat-a-tat dialogue form of movies from the 1920's and 30's. An era captured in just over forty words. Shows you why these people bestrode the World and taught it how to run things!

I was especially grateful for the wonderful overview provided by Robin Winks' Introduction to the four books. It truly eases you into a deeper understanding and appreciation of these works.

mystery

The first of the genre but rather slow and repetitive but of historic value of the literature form

The Original Spy Thrillers
"The Four Adventures of Richard Hannay" gathers in one volume stories written by John Buchan during and after his service as an British intelligence officer during the First World War.The first two stories were actually written and published as the war with Imperial Germany and her allies progressed, imparting a sense of urgency and uncertainty about the outcome that an historical novel written after the fact might not have captured in the same way."The Thirty-Nine Steps", "Greenmantle", "Mr. Standfast", and "The Three Hostages" follow the career of South African mining engineer and British Army officer Richard Hannay.Hannay stumbles into the spy business through the murder of an accidental lodger in "The Thirty-Nine Steps", set in the time just before the outbreak of war, and is repeatedly called back to the spying businees, often from his military duties, in the remaining stories.Buchan's technique improved with practice; the stories develop more complicated plotlines and smoother deliveries.

Those familar with the Sherlock Holmes stories will find a similar sort of pacing in Buchan's adventure stories.Buchan relies heavily on coincidence and exotic settings in advancing his story lines, and some of the stereotypes and language will seem dated to modern readers.Some other portions of the stories will seem remarkably fresh, as for example Hannay's description of the opposition by some Britons to the War with Germany, proof, if we needed it, that human nature is remarkably constant.The story lines are engaging, and Richard Hannay is a sympathetic hero, if very much a man of his times.Buchan, a born and raised Scotsman, is often at his literary best in describing the people, land and simple details of ordinary living of Scotland and England.

Readers are highly encouraged to read the introductory essay by Robin Winks, which provides excellent background on the remarkable life of John Buchan and the context of his writing.In his description of the "Buchan Formula", Winks makes the case that Buchan is the literary forefather of later writers of spy fiction such as Jon LeCare.

This book is highly recommended to those fans of the spy genre who would like to explore its antecendants, and to those readers looking for authentic period piece stories.

The spy who bored me
Buchan hasn't held up. His people are shadows and caricatures that read like the over-made-up characters in some silent movie. He doesn't seem to have much of a grip on religion, language, ethnicity or simple human motivations. Authors fade into obscurity for a reason -- and there are reasons why book introductions, like the one offered here, take on such a defensive tone. In Buchan's case the reason is his tales of exotic adventure read like one part Kipling and 20 parts dishwater. If you must read him, don't go anywhere near "Kim" until you're well through. ... Read more

Product Description
After his father's death our young hero sets off to make his fortune in South Africa. He gets tangled up in an African tribal uprising and the strange encounter and rumours he hears along his journey make him suspect that his destination may not be as predictable as he has supposed. Set at the turn of the last century, this is a real adventure story. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Adventure on a Large Canvas: South Africa
This novel, set more than a century ago in backwater South Africa, is the great grandfather of today's thrillers.Buchan, who perfected the form in "The 39 Steps" some years later, gives his young hero plenty to do in sussing out and confronting a massive uprising by tribesmen who wish to slaughter all the white settlers for a hundred miles around.The writing is smooth and the situations are generally believable, though modern readers will have to forgive Buchan for some racist sentiments completely common at the time.Both black and white characters are compellingly and sympathetically drawn, though, so there's no reason to apologize for the book.Read it and be taken back to another time and another place, and imagine how Hollywood would produce this today-- it feels totally contemporary in terms of its "Indiana Jones" adventure plot.Enjoy!(Note: This book is available in its entirety online.) ... Read more

Product Description
From the heart of a great hill land Glenavelin stretches west and south to the wider Gled valley where its stream joins with the greater water in its seaward course.' (Excerpt from Chapter 1) ... Read more

Product Description
In 1925, John Buchan published his second most famous novel, "John MacNab"; three high-flying men - a barrister, a cabinet minister and a banker - are suffering from boredom. They concoct a plan to cure it. They inform three Scottish estates that they will poach from each two stags and a salmon in a given time. They sign collectively as 'John McNab' and await the responses. This novel is a light interlude within the "Leithen Stories" series - an evocative look at the hunting, shooting and fishing lifestyle in Highland Scotland. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Gentlemanly manners in the twilight of Empire
(This review is of the paperback Wordsworth Classics edition published in 1996 by Wordsworth Editions Limited)

"Macnab maun be a fair deevil." - From JOHN MACNAB

Passing by the book lending shelf - basically one step above the round file - at the local YMCA, my eye was caught by a volume, JOHN MACNAB, published by "Wordsworth Classics." Since the novels that I generally read are published by "Utter Rubbish", and since this volume seemed, on inspection, to promise mild amusement, I surreptitiously stuck it in my gym bag. Who knows? Perhaps I might even assimilate a whiff of cultcha.

JOHN MACNAB was penned by Scotsman John Buchan, who was to eventually become Governor General of Canada and 1st Baron Tweedsmuir. Written in 1925, the novel opens with three gentleman friends - lawyer Sir Edward Leithen, banker John Palliser-Yeates, and Cabinet member Charles Lord Lamancha - discovering that they all suffer a common and debilitating malady, a loss of zest for life (for which, nowadays, one would simply be prescribed an antidepressant chemical).

Enlisting the aid of another friend, Scottish landowner Sir Archibald Roylance, the trio contrives a plot to poach game - deer or salmon - from the hereditary lands of three of Archie's Highland neighbors under the guise of an assumed false identity, "John Macnab." But, this is not to be common theft, but rather an exercise in sportsmanship. Letters over Macnab's "signature" are duly sent to the three targeted and unsuspecting lairds setting out the terms of the challenge, which includes monetary wagers. The life-stimulating danger to our three heroes comes from the damage to their reputations should they be caught and their identities revealed. Responses received from the three landowners indicate that they will take extraordinary measures to protect their holdings from trespass. The game is on.

The story begins engagingly enough as the plotters repair to Roylance's lodge to plan their assaults with the help of some local talent, which includes an itinerant young tinker-boy, Fish Benjie, and Archie's veteran stalker, Wattie. Each of the three - Leithen, Palliser-Yeates, and Lamancha - takes responsibility for poaching one of the three targets.

The narrative is successful through the first two acts. Then as more characters are added and the Press becomes involved, the story loses focus and what was, to my mind, an otherwise elegantly simple plot and concept. By the end of the third act, JOHN MACNAB disintegrates into a genteel Highland farce. Of course, it's all quite civilized in the upper-class, British manner. And the charming Scottish dialect is lovingly rendered.

Perhaps the chief value to be gained from this relatively short book (188 pages) read today in 2010 is the window on a way of life struck a heavy blow by the Great War and soon to be eclipsed by World War Two and the subsequent loss of the Empire. Or perhaps I'm just reading too much into it. In any case, I'll return it to the shelf at the Y culturally enriched and mildly, but not greatly, amused.

What in the World is a Mcnab?

4.0 out of 5 stars What in the World is a Mcnab?, March 3, 2010
By "OleBear" (Oxford, Mississippi, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
I read a sporting article that referred to a Macnab, and that set me on a journey that ended with my reading of the book "John Macnab." The book is written in British early 20th century style, but it is a light-hearted tale so it is easy reading. I did need a good dictionary in a few places. The book spins a tale about 3 bored-from-success Englishmen in a post-WWI setting. After fighting in the war. they went home, became successful and craved excitement. I'll go no further with the story except to say that they got their excitement. It was adventure and a happy ending without today's super heroes. John Macnab is not for everyone, but I found it an enjoyable change of pace, and I now know what a Macnab is (and would love to try it).

An excellent outdoor adventure novel.
John Buchan's book John MacNab is set in the highlands of Scotland. The three main characters, one a Cabinet minister, another a banker and the last an Attorney-General, are all suffering from boredom which they canonly cure by doing something dangerous and difficult.Deciding to try topoach a salmon and two stags in a limited amount of time, riskingreputation and a fine, as well as rough handling, they are cured ofboredom. An excellent book for anyone who enjoys outdoor adventure novels.

A fine tale of gentlemen poachers
"John MacNab" recounts the glorious story of three bored gentlemen, who one summer in the 1930's, decide to poach salmon and deer from three neighbouring sporting estates. Buchan, a native Scot,beautifully describes the landscapes and characters involved in this wildplan. Enjoyable from beginning to end.

"I say old chap!How Jolly!"
I read this immediately after reading "The Thirty-Nine Steps"and found "John Macnab" the more enjoyable of the two.Buchandoes a great job of describing the Scottish landscape but, in what Isuppose is a case of art imitating life, I couldn't help seeing thecharacters as actors in an old b/w English movie!It made me want to readmore about gillies and game-keepers so my next book was "LadyChatterly's Lover"!I say! ... Read more

Product Description
MONTROSE- A History by JOHN BUCHAN. Originally published in 1928. PREFACE: PREFACE: IN September, 1913, 1 published a short sketch of Montrose, which dealt chiefly with his campaigns. The book went out of print very soon, and it was not reissued because I cher ished the hope of making it the basis of a larger work, in which the background of seventeenth-century politics and religion should be more fully portrayed. I also felt that many of the judgments in the sketch were exaggerated and hasty. During the last fifteen years I have been collecting material for the understanding of a career which must rank among the marvels of our history, and of a mind and character which seem to me in a high degree worthy of the attention of the modern reader. The manuscript sources have already been diligently explored by others, and I have been unable to glean from them much that is new but I have attempted to supplement them by a study of the voluminous pamphlet literature of the time. My aim has been to present a great figure in its appropriate setting In a domain where the dust of controversy has not yet been laid, I cannot hope to find for my views universal acceptance, but they have not been reached without an earnest attempt to discover the truth, J. B. ELSFTEJLB MANOR, OXFORD June, 1928. COntents include: INTRODUCTION THE EARLY SEVENTEENTH CENTURY 3 BOOK I PREPARATION I. YOUTH 1612-86 19 IL THE STRIFE IN SCOTLAND 1636-38 29 III. THE FIRST COVENANT WARS 1638-39 60 IV. MONTROSE AND ARGYLL 1639-42 86 V. THE RUBICON 1642-44 114 BOOK II ACTION VI. THE CURTAIN RISES MARCH, 1644-AuGusT, 1644 143 VII. TIPPERMUIR SEPTEMBER, 1644 154 VIII. ABERDEEN AND FYVIE SEPTEMBER-DECEMBER, 1644 173 IX. INVERLOCHY DECEMBER, 1644-FEBRUARY, 1645 187 X. THE RETREAT FROM DUNDEE FEBRUARY-APRIL, 1645 202 r XI. - AULDEARN AND ALFORD ApRIL-JULY, 1645 213 XII. KlLSYTH JULY-AUGUST, 1645 232 XIII. THE , WAR ON THE BORDER AUGUST-SEPTEMBER, 1645 243 XIV, AFTER PHIUPHAUGH SEPTEMBER, 1645-SEPTEMBER, 1646 260 BOOK III PASSION XV... ... Read more

Product Description
The Gap in the Curtain is a supernatural story full of suspense. Guests at a country house party are enabled by an eccentric scientist to see a glimpse of an issue of the Times dated a year ahead of time. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Good read for those interested in England in the 1930s
This book is actually not particularly suspenseful and so is not a thriller like Buchan's "The Thirty-Nine Steps."Nonetheless, I found it tremendously enjoyable.As one of the other reviewer's notes, the story involves several guests at an English country house in the early 1930s who each gets a very brief glimpse of a different page from the London Times one year in the future.Buchan is a superb writer and I found his account of the fates of these people very well done.However, you need to have some interest in England in the 1930s to truly appreciate this book.A couple of the story threads involve the political maneuverings in the British Parliament in the early 1930s as the Great Depression threw the normal party alignments into disarray.Naturally, these events were more interesting to people in England in 1932 when this book was published than they will be to readers in the contemporary U.S. One of the other reviewers found these parts of the book boring, but I think Buchan writes so well that they remain interesting.

A couple of points:The book starts a bit slowly and the best of the story threads is the one that ends the book.In fact, I found the last story thread to be quite moving.So, don't abandon the book too early!Finally, [SPOILER ALERT] I found the twist at the end a bit farfetched, but it didn't spoil the book for me, particularly as it allowed for a happy ending.

Interesting concept that lags in execution
The reviewer below has done a good job of summarizing the basic premise of this book's plot: a country-house party is given the opportunity to see for an instant the front page of the Times a year hence.Each member sees something affecting himself, and the rest of the book tells what each one did with the knowledge gained thereby.

As a premise, this is great.Unfortunately, Buchan allows his story to become bogged down with uninteresting characters in contrived situations.Perhaps the up-and-coming politician's story was interesting to an Englishman in the 1930s, but today it seems dull indeed.Form a coalition government already! Or something!Don't agonize over what to do for months on end.

Ultimately, I feel that this book fails as a thriller because it can't make the dramas playing out in its characters' lives have much meaning to the reader.

Can you change your future?
At a country house gathering, five guests are chosen by a brilliant scientist to take part in a shocking experiment which will let them glimpse one year into the future. However, when the experiment takes place, two of the guests see their own obituaries in The Times newspaper, one year hence. Will they be able to change their destinies?Read this book and find out! ... Read more

Product Description
These twelve stories are told by the old soldiers of the Runagates Club as they reminisce. Richard Hanny, hero of The Thirty-nine Steps, reappears recounting a trek into the bush in The Green Wildebeest. In Dr Lartius, John Palliser-Yeates describes an ingenious Secret Service operation during the First World War. A German code is finally broken in The Loathly Opposite. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

check out what buchan thought of 1920s reporting
This book deserves five stars. Check out what Buchan thought about 'uplift writing'in 1920s reporting. . .

Up to Buchan's usual standard, with the usual foibles!
A collection of short stories, as narrated by many of Buchan's major characters (Edward Leithen, Richard Hannay, Archie Roylance etc). On the upside, the brevity of the stories keeps them fresh, and Buchan has to work harder to focus his characterisation - usually something he spends a while doing. On the downside, some of the stories are of variable quality, although the majority are excellent. Also, Buchan's writing is nowadays often cited as being racist or anti-semitic, and this book would do nothing to ameliorate either accusation. However, I tend to view his writings as very much a product of his time - these are very much the writings of a British Imperialist who was writing in the twilight of empire, before WW2. As a result, I tend to feel that writing which could never be excused today should be viewed as a historical curiosity rather than anything else. ... Read more

Product Description
At all costs we had to keep Rasta safe, but I was very determined that he should not be handed over to the lady. I was going to be no party to cold-blooded murder, which I judged to be her expedient. It was a pretty kettle of fish, but in the meantime I must have food, for I had eaten nothing for nine hours. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (20)

Intrigue in Mesopotamia
Greenmantle, John Buchan

After the events in "The Thirty-Nine Steps" Richard Hannay joined the British Army as a Major. After the Battle of Loos he convalesced in Hampshire. A telegram summoned him to the Foreign Office to meet Sir Walter Bullivant. There is a potential danger from the Turkish Empire against the Allies. Hannay is to travel there to learn about this menace (Chapter 1). Hannay picks two aides: Sandy Arbuthnot and John S. Blenkiron (Chapter 2). In Portugal Hannay meets Peter Pienaar and takes him along (Chapter 3). They all travel into Germany and meet Ulric von Stumm (Chapter 4). The next two chapters tell of their travels in Germany. Hannay makes his escape and finds a refuge in the snowstorm (Chapter 7). He left to find a boat on the Danube (Chapter 8). Hannay finds Peter Pienaar and takes him aboard (Chapter 9). They arrive in Constantinople and find it eventful (Chapter 10). Will they be caught by their enemies (Chapter 11)?

They rejoin Sandy and John. Germany wants to control the Near East (Chapter12). Hannay now poses as an American (Chapter 13). When Peter and Richard are lost at night they find a house and are directed back to the city (Chapter 14). A meeting with a Turkish officer creates a dangerous situation. Hilda von Einem visits him (Chapter 15). They all travel towards Erzerum and their motorcar breaks down (Chapter16). They steal another car to continue their journey but are arrested (Chapter 17). They are able to escape to a house outside the city (Chapter 18). Can they get the military secrets to the Russians (Chapter 19)? Chapter 20 tells how Peter crossed No-Man's Land in the night to reach the Russians. Richard and his friends try to escape to the Russian lines but are trapped on a hill (Chapter 21). Just as it seems hopeless the Russian guns and Cossack cavalry sweep away the Turkish army and German troops to provide a happy ending (Chapter 22). [Will this counteract the defeat at Gallipolli?]

This was written in 1916, a bad year for the Allies. The German air force dominated the skies, until more advanced airplanes were produced for the French and British. This book can be viewed as propaganda for the Allied cause, a wish for the Russians to defeat Germany and come west. It points out the German interest in the oil-rich lands of the then Turkish Empire. Details of this story seem dated, but provides a view into the culture. John Buchan was a writer, barrister, member of Parliament, partner in a publishing house, a Church of Scotland official, and Governor-General of Canada. Few novelists have such a background.

Fitfully exciting but dates badly
Dated and profoundly smug follow up to the brilliant "The Thirty-Nine Steps" featuring the same resourceful hero Richard Hannay. This time the story is set in wartime (WWI) but follows the same formula of a Hannay staying one step ahead of his pursuers through the most unlikeliest of means. Not boring but the smugness and chauvanism of Hannay and his companions becomes tiresome and date the story badly.

Greenmantle
While many today might be familiar with Ian Fleming and his spy character James Bond's adventures in the era of the Cold War,John Buchan in Greenmantle gives us a portrayal of espionage World War I style when the Allies foes were Turkey's Ottoman Empire and Germany and the quest was the Middle East andall its riches.

The writing is clear, concise and under stated leaving it to the reader to fill in the missing parts and the excitement the character must have experienced to accomplish what they did.

Author John Buchan is a study in himself having served in the highest level of Britain's Ministry of Propaganda and Espionage as well as the House of Lords and Governor General of Canada and a Oxford don to boot. His
four character's are no doubt a composite of spy's he has known.The author makes use of then current slang, sayings and amixture of languages that slowsdown reading but give authenticity to the story, but frequently requires checking the "explanatory notes" in the back of the book.It would be movie Alfred Hitchcock might considered making if he had Indiana Jones to play the lead.

A must Read
This one of the most spellbinding books I've read. It is impossible to put down and once read will be pulled down off the shelf and reread time and again. I own over 3,000 hardcover books, have read every one of them at least once, greenmantle, about every five years I have to read it again. If you love adventure and wonderful writing, this book is a must read.

One of Buchan's best
Greenmantle is one of the finest examples of Buchan's writing--if not the best, although Witch Wood is a contender. During World War 1, four men embark on a trip through wartime Europe and Germany to Constantinople. Their aim is to find a secret weapon: a nuclear ray? a new kind of aeroplane?--Well, I'll only say, something totally different.

The story is longer, more philosophical, and of far wider scope than its predecessor, The Thirty-Nine Steps. There are more characters, more locations, more pressure on our heroes. There are many memorable passages of writing--from Germany in winter to the first sight of the mountains in Turkey. The plot relies less on coincidence than The Thirty-Nine Steps, but gets criticised just as harshly for it. The only place I've ever found coincidences not to happen are in realistic fiction (or, they're bad coincidences).

Still, if you can accept the fact that this is a relatively optimistic wartime thriller (compared to some recent efforts) with plenty of adventure and suspense, you'll love this book. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (59)

Predictable and cliched, yet brilliant
Sometimes, 'predictable' and 'cliched' are nothing more than harmless adjectives when the execution of a concept is flawless, and since Buchan's execution of the predictable and cliched concept in "The Thirty Nine Steps" is flawless, then the adjectives 'classic' and 'exhilarating' will fit better.
The story starts off with the narrator stating that his life is dull and boring and nothing ever happens! Cue the dramatic change where something happens and it is exciting and adventureful.The narrator meets a man, discovers the same man dead days later, feels responsible for completing the dead man's mysterious mission, and then finds himself chased around the country by criminals, police, and angry Scotsman.The pace is relentless, the plot is unnecessarily complex but satisfyingly so, and the twists and turns that occur (that we know are coming but enjoy anyway) manage to accelerate the pace at every turn.To top it off, the end of the book attempts to add a weightiness to the action that is so bold its gutsy, not even mentioning the fact that the whole drama gets wrapped up (barely) in about a page.
In the hands of another author, this could have been a cheap, time killing, saturday afternoon escape worth less than the paper its printed on.It is still a great saturday afternoon escape, yet Buchan's deft hand gives it a lasting importance that should continue to influence action adventure fiction for decades (as it already has).

Review of The Thirty Nine Steps
This an old fashioned thriller which keeps the reader enthralled to the last page. My only complaint is that it was a bit short. The central character is like the type that Robert Ludlum used to write about, where practically everybody is after him and he has to use every ingenious device he can to avoid capture. I can thoroughly recomend this book.

Fast Steps
People who seek out John Buchan's first Richard Hannay adventure because they enjoyed the classic Hitchcock film or any of the other film and stage adaptations over the years will most likely be a bit disappointed.Other than Hannay, the titular steps, and a good amount of time set in Scotland, most adaptations veer wildly off from the direction Buchan took Hannay in.

In 1915, Richard Hannay returns from war duty in Africa and finds himself incredibly bored -- until he is taken into the confidence of a man who seems to have discovered an international conspiracy, and that man turns up dead in Hannay's apartment. Hanny quickly finds himself on the run from both the British police and a shadowy organization who may be trying to bring about (and make sure England and France are on the losing side of) what turns out to be World War One.

The action Hanny finds himself involved in is tame compared to today's spy thriller fiction, but Buchan keeps things moving at a fast clip and doesn't really allow his hero a chance to slow down.Hannay is quick-witted and physically able, as the main character of a thriller must be, and survives every encounter with those trying to catch him by a combination of physical prowess, good costumes, and enough deductive reasoning that even the great Holmes would admit Hannay could be close to a peer.Some of Hannay's encounters are a little too convenient, but that's the nature of stories like these: you have to willingly suspend your disbelief in the occurrence of so many coincidental encounters with colorful locals just when Hannay needs a place to hide or a cunning disguise.

As a classic of early 1900s spy/adventure fiction, it's hard to find fault with the book.There's nothing really extraneous other than a late-in-the-game fistfight outside of Pall Mall is a bit unnecessary, stretching the book's length just a tad and not really adding any palpable tension to the book's end-game.There's no love interest, or really any main female role at all, which is possibly why Hitchcock and others have created female characters to share Hannay's travails.The book works as what it is: a tight, crisp, spy thriller that introduces a world-weary but interesting main character.(Buchan went on to write several other Hannay adventures.)

Definitely recommended. It's a fast, short read.

A new production of John Buchan's spy masterpiece...
Hello everybody! I'manxiously awaiting the 2008 Masterpiece Classic production of THE THIRTY-NINE STEPS on PBS.To prepare for this momentous occasion, I am reading the Oxford World's Classics edition of Buchan's spy novel, a definitive edition. And I also have Hitchcock's 1935 film of Buchan's book to watch.

Buchan's biographer Janet Adam Smith discusses the films (from notes to the Harvie introduction in the Oxford Classic edition):
The first film adaptation was by Alfred Hitchcock in 1935, with Robert Donat as Hannay and dialogue by Ian Hay... It is still very watchable; more than can be said of its successors. Ralph Thomas made a version with Kenneth More in 1960, of which Halliwell's Film Guide comments that it was "practically a manual on how not to make a thriller"; the 1978 version, directed by Don Sharp and starring Robert Powell, was set in 1914, the only point at which its plot coincided with Buchan's book.

The Oxford World's Classic edition contains the short novel along with a fascinating introduction by Christopher Harvie with bottom-of-the-page notes, three pages of Selected Bibliography, A Chronology of John Buchan's major writings (he wrote 130 books and contributed significantly to another 150!), and 111 explanatory notes at the back of the paperback.

Of interest to me was a bit of literary trivia: the British Weekly comment in its July 1, 1915 edition. British Weekly, Harvie tells us, was the maker-and-breaker of literary reputations:

We have everything here that can be wished---an excellent cipher story, with one or two points of novelty, a murder, a big subterranean business, a flight in a stolen motor-car, a monoplane floating with deadly intent, a Radical candidate, and all the rest. Not all the rest, for the woman has not yet appeared on the scene. But nobody must miss the tale.

The British Weekly had a while to await for the woman to appear. I understand that two main female characters were added to the Hitchcock film but no prominent woman appears in the book.

Wonder what PBS will do?

39 steps
The book arrived on time and in good shape.Have seen the movie in several versions and wanted to read the book.Very good and suspenseful. ... Read more

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"Complete Richard Hannay". ... Read more

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This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Romanticism vs Realism
Huntingtower is a rare book and a pleasure to read. On one level it's a gripping adventure story. On another level it's a vindication of the overlooked characters of the thriller-world. The heroes here aren't soldiers, aren't highly-trained spies, aren't adventurers. They are a married, middle-aged grocer; an old lady; a gang of indomitable street-kids; a cynical poet; and a gang of disabled soldiers. And there's a dispossessed Russian princess-turned-spy in there, too, with a dispossessed Russian prince.

On another level the tale's pure allegory--about the Realist (the cynical poet) and the Romanticist (the grocer) stumbling upon a slice of real adventure and finding out that it's nothing like either of them expected. It's a vindication of fairy-tales (there's a princess in a tower!) and a judgement of thoughtless sentimentalism.

But all those levels work together to make up an often funny, often moving, surprisingly candid adventure through a Scotland lovingly evoked--yet another of Buchan's unusual tales.

Saving a Kidnapped Russian Princess from a Rambling Mansion -- Part Dated But Enjoyable Adventure Tale
A lesser known John Buchan work, 'Huntingtower' (published in 1922) is still a very enjoyable adventure book in which a most unlikely person in the world of fiction plays the central role.He is Dickeson McCunn, newly retired gorcery shop owner, whose life has been very 'respectable.'Now, free from his business (and his wife being away from home), Dickson leaves the city to spend time walking in the countryside of Scotland.

But while visiting the village called Dalquharter, Dickson meets a young English poet Mr. Heritage, who tries to convince him that in the ruined mansion Huntingtower, a young woman is held against her will, and the poet claims that he knows her personally.Moreover, Heritage believes that the woman is a Russian princess.Unconvinced, Dickson refuses to take part in his 'rescue' plans ... at first.

The plot is vintage Buchan, with lots of actions (exciting andincredible ones), plus well-observed descritions of characters.Dickson is not as active or heroic as Richard Hannay, but the situation is similar to that of 'The Thirty-Nine Steps.'The difference is inclusion of historical references to the post-revolution Russia, and 'the Gorbals Die-Hards,' group of local kids who assist the jobs of Dickson.The colorful Scottish background is also attarctive.

The book is a thriller, but unlike 'Greenmantle,' it is not political.It's more like reading Scott or Stevenson, with sly and often comical commentary to the contemporary social situations here and there, such as deft description of one boy who recounts his experience joining in sociliast's meeting, thinking that it's a football club.And of course, Russian princess reminds us of the legend of Anastasia.

The book fails to be convincing when it tries to show the 'villains' who are only stock characters, and the idea of putting a respectable middle-class Glassgow grocery store owner does not work in the latter half of the book, in which Dickson McCunn is less interesting presence than the 'Die-Hards.' And you probably don't like the book's occasional derogatory commentary on certain group (especially Jewish people).Some of the values here are those of the 1920s, and they are clearly dated.

But the actions and the characters (if not all) are still good, and the narrator draws vivid sketches of people with clever and pithy wording.The catalogue of people Dickson meets on the road (including Heritage) is all lively, and the entire mood of the book is surprisingly optimistic.The book is readable and entertaining in a different way than Buchan's spy novels. ... Read more

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This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

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Different from the movie
High adventure, serious chases, and master disguises play against WW1 background. Although very different from the movie, The 39 Steps, this is a very good read. ... Read more

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That evening, I remember, as I came up through the Mill Meadow, I was feeling peculiarly happy and contented.It was still mid- March, one of those spring days when noon is like May, and only the cold pearly haze at sunset warns a man that he is not done with winter.The season was absurdly early, for the blackthorn was in flower and the hedge roots were full of primroses.The partridges were paired, the rooks were well on with their nests, and the meadows were full of shimmering grey flocks of fieldfares on their way north.I put up half a dozen snipe on the boggy edge of the stream, and in the bracken in Sturn Wood I thought I saw a woodcock, and hoped that the birds might nest with us this year, as they used to do long ago.It was jolly to see the world coming to life again, and to remember that this patch of England was my own, and all these wild things, so to speak, members of my little household.

As I say, I was in a very contented mood, for I had found something I had longed for all my days.I had bought Fosse Manor just after the War as a wedding present for Mary, and for two and a half years we had been settled there.My son, Peter John, was rising fifteen months, a thoughtful infant, as healthy as a young colt and as comic as a terrier puppy.Even Mary’s anxious eye could scarcely detect in him any symptoms of decline.But the place wanted a lot of looking to, for it had run wild during the War, and the woods had to be thinned, gates and fences repaired, new drains laid, a ram put in to supplement the wells, a heap of thatching to be done, and the garden borders to be brought back to cultivation.I had got through the worst of it, and as I came out of the Home Wood on to the lower lawns and saw the old stone gables that the monks had built, I felt that I was anchored at last in the pleasantest kind of harbour.

There was a pile of letters on the table in the hall, but I let them be, for I was not in the mood for any communication with the outer world.As I was having a hot bath Mary kept giving me the news through her bedroom door.Peter John had been raising Cain over a first tooth; the new shorthorn cow was drying off; old George Whaddon had got his granddaughter back from service; there was a new brood of runner-ducks; there was a missel-thrush building in the box hedge by the lake.A chronicle of small beer, you will say, but I was by a long chalk more interested in it than in what might be happening in Parliament or Russia or the Hindu Kush.The fact is I was becoming such a mossback that I had almost stopped reading the papers.Many a day The Times would remain unopened, for Mary never looked at anything but the first page to see who was dead or married.Not that I didn’t read a lot, for I used to spend my evenings digging into county history, and learning all I could about the old fellows who had been my predecessors.I liked to think that I lived in a place that had been continuously inhabited for a thousand years.Cavalier and Roundhead had fought over the countryside, and I was becoming a considerable authority on their tiny battles.That was about the only interest I had left in soldiering.


More Reading:
In The Richard Hannay series by ADB Publishing
(The Original) Thirty-nine Steps
(The Original) Greenmantle
(The Original) Mr Standfast
(The Original) Three Hostages (This Book)
(The Original) Island of Sheep ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

This is a great story, but...
The story is pretty good, but paying 4 dollars for an ebook that is filled with the same errors and lack of pagination as the free Project Gutenberg version is ridiculous.What a waste of money...

A little bizzare
I have enjoyed many of John Buchan's novels: The Thirty Nine Steps, John McNab, Huntingtower (especially amusing), The Island of Sheep.But this Richard Hannay novel is rather strange, involving the use of hypnotism as a means to gain political power.Most of his novels are rather far-fetched, but fun.I'd give this one a miss though.Really out-there!

Thanks, Wordsworth!
Kudos to Wordsworth Classics for keeping these four books in print -- affordable, too!I've now read all but one of the Hannay adventures (this one, plus "39 Steps" and "Mr. Standfast") and thoroughly enjoyed them all."Hostages" moves a bit slower and doesn't have quite as much "local flavor" as the others; but it's a fine book, with much to recommend it and much to remember.

I enjoyed especially the respectful portrait of Hannay's wife, every bit as smart and tough as he -- quite surprising in an era (and culture) that I had assumed would be somewhat chauvinistic-- and a real relief from other spy stories in which the women simply scream helplessly until The Man comes along.Mind you, I have no political agenda -- and indeed am quite conservative about gender roles; but I just find it so much more sensible and realistic when women characters act like human beings!

"Hostages" is also remarkably prescient about the onset of WW2, and how Hitler would try to rule the world not merely through brute force but through propaganda and mass hysteria.There is also some fine thematic development here, esp. the notion that a spy mission may achieve "success" without "victory."

But the best thing about the book is its final chapter; as in "Standfast," "Hostages" has a split climax; the main conflict is resolved about 35 pages before the end of the book, and then there's a further, more nitty-gritty, down-to-earth duel at the end.Fantastic!

These books are great for folks looking for good old-fashioned adventure like James Bond, but without the girls and the violence.

Highly recommended. ... Read more

Product Description
South America is the setting for this adventure from the author ofThe Thirty-nine Steps.When Archie and Janet Roylance decide to travel to the Gran Seco to see its copper mines they find themselves caught up in dreadful danger; rebels have seized the city.Janet is taken hostage in the middle of the night and it is up to the dashing Don Luis de Marzaniga to aid her rescue. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Fun!
I'm only giving this book four stars because Buchan and others have written better stuff. This novel, concerning the Richard Hannay menage (but in which he makes no more than a guest appearance) is more the tale of Sandy Arbuthnot, master of disguise, and newlyweds Archie and Janet Roylance. In a South American republic, revolution is afoot and Sandy is behind the scenes pulling strings and living in the danger. Archie and Janet stumble upon it by mistake, but then they join Sandy and co. Then Janet is kidnapped and Archie takes Geordie Hamilton into the heart of the toxic Poison Country in a desperate bid to rescue her.

The story takes a little more time to get going, unlike Buchan's tauter, shorter books, but once it does, it's gripping.

Don't Pass This One By!
Not many people read John Buchan's works, but they are without a doubt worth reading. This book is one of his best. He has taken character's from his Richard Hannay series, and in one smooth, skillful chapter he throws them into a different world. While his other books deal mostly with the spy games of WW1 era, in The Courts of the Morning three of his best characters (Sandy Arbuthnot, John S. Blenkiron, and Archie Roylance) are transported to a small South American country to try to bring down a man who is almost insanely bent on world conquest. To accomplish this process, they organize the cleanest revolutionary guerilla war ever concieved, and with a mixture of brilliant spy techniques and unexpected mercy they win a victory better than anything the recent war turned out... ... Read more

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This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. ... Read more

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Major General Sir Richard Hannay is the fictional secret agent created by writer and diplomat John Buchan, who was himself an Intelligence officer during the First World War. The strong and silent type, combining the dour temperament of the Scot with the stiff upper lip of the Englishman, Hannay is pre-eminent among early spy-thriller heroes. Caught up in the first of these five gripping adventures just before the outbreak of war in 1914, he manages to thwart the enemy's evil plan and solve the mystery of the 'thirty-nine steps'. In Greenmantle, he undertakes a vital mission to prevent jihad in the Islamic Near East. Mr Standfast, set in the decisive months of 1917-18, is the novel in which Hannay, after a life lived 'wholly among men', finally falls in love; later, in The Three Hostages, he finds himself unravelling a kidnapping mystery with his wife's help. In the last adventure, The Island of Sheep, he is called upon to honour an old oath. A shrewd judge of men, he never dehumanises his enemy, and despite sharing some of the racial prejudices of his day, Richard Hannay is a worthy prototype hero of espionage fiction. ... Read more

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Greenmantle
The Half-Hearted
Huntingtower
The Moon Endureth--Tales and Fancies
Mr. Standfast
The Path of the King
Prester John
Salute to Adventurers
The Thirty-nine Steps
... Read more

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This Halcyon Classics ebook features Scottish novelist John Buchan's classic espionage masterpiece THE THIRTY-NINE STEPS.Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir (1875-1940) was a unionist, imperialist, and Governor-General of Canada.He is perhaps best known for his Richard Hannay character, the protagonist in THE THIRTY-NINE STEPS and several sequels.

Hanney, an expatriated Scot, returns from a long stay in South Africa to his flat in London. One night he is buttonholed by an American who appears to know of an anarchist plot to destabilise Europe, and claims to be in fear for his life. Hannay lets the American hide in his flat, and returns later to find that another man has been found shot dead in the same building, apparently a suicide. Four days later Hannay finds the American stabbed to death...

This ebook is DRM free.

... Read more