John Buchan

Edward Leithen is the closest of Buchan's protagonists to theauthor's own experience and imagination. A prosperous Scots lawyer andMP in London, Leithen seeks adventure to relieve the tedium ofrespectability. In The Power House he is forced by event and accident to see civilisation as a thin veneer over the human jungle; in John Macnab he makes his own adventure by playing the poacher; in Sick Heart River, seeking a lost friend he meets death and redemption in the wastes of Canada.Each book contrasts with the others; each pulls us into Buchan's world and holds us there.

Set in the early years of the 19th century, this story is a tale of conspiracy, secret societies, foreign agents and a fiendish plot to assassinate the Prime Minister. Anthony Lammas, a young professor of philosophy at St Andrews, becomes involved with a secret society - the Free Fishers.

Richard Hannay''s ennui comes to an abrupt end when a murder is committed in his flat. Only a few days before the dead man had revealed to him an assassination plot which would have terrible consequences for international peace.'

Midwinter is regarded by many critics as one of the finest historical novels ever written. Alastair Macl ean, a close confidante of Prince Charles Edward Stuart, beg ins to suspect that someone is passing secrets to the enemy. '

Adam Melfort is released from jail just befo re the outbreak of World War I and becomes involved in intel ligence work behind enemy lines. After the war he carries on seeking adventure and tries to prevent the assassination of the German Chancellor. '

When Sir Edward Leithen leaves London to spe nd Whitsuntide as a guest at Flambard, he has no idea of the extraordinary sequence of events about to unfold. '

Tells the story of Peter Pentecost, a clerk at the great abbey of Osney just outside Oxford. Peter's life is turned upside down when he discovers he is the son of the last Duke of Buckingham, sixth in descent from Edward III, and should by rights be King instead of Henry VIII.

An historical account of the massacre, in February 1692, of the small Clan MacDonald of Glencoe by Campbell of Glenlyon's troops under orders from the English Government. It marked the beginning of the end of the clan system and the old, free Highland way of life.

With a new Introduction by Cedric Watts, Research Professor of English, University of Sussex. Richard Hannay finds a corpse in his flat, and becomes involved in a plot by spies to precipitate war and subvert British naval power. The resourceful victim of a manhunt, he is pursued by both the police and the ruthless conspirators. The Thirty-Nine Steps is a seminal ‘chase’ thriller, rapid and vivid. It has been widely influential and frequently dramatised: the film directed by Alfred Hitchcock became a screen classic. This engaging novel also provides insights into the inter-action of patriotism, fear and prejudice.

Contains: The Thirty-Nine Steps, Greenmantle, Mr Standfast, The Three Hostages and The Island of Sheep

The classic British thriller of esponiage and the basis for the Alfred Hitchcock film. The year is 1914. Richard Hannay, an expatriate Scot in London, is buttonholed by a stranger, a well-travelled American, who claims to be in fear for his life. The man appears to know of an anarchist plot to destabilize Europe, beginning with a plan to assassinate the Greek Premier, Constantine Karolides, during his forthcoming visit to England. The man reveals his name to be Franklin P. Scudder, a freelance spy, and remarks that he is dead, which holds Hannay's attention. Scudder explains that he has faked his own death to avert suspicion. Scudder claims to be following a ring of German spies called the Black Stone who are trying to steal British plans for the outbreak of war. Hannay lets Scudder hide in his flat and, couple of days later, Hannay returns home to find Scudder dead with a knife through his heart. And that is just the beginning. The 39 Steps was first published in 1915, the first of five novels featuring Richard Hannay, an action hero with a stiff upper lip and a miraculous knack for getting himself out of sticky situations. The combination of action and fun make this novel a perennial treat for readers.

Perhaps more than any other book The Thirty-Nine Steps has set the pattern for the story of the chase for a wanted man. And, of the many writers who have attempted this kind of thing since Buchan, only a very few, like Graham Greene, have managed to sustain the tension in the same way. The main character is Buchan's familiar hero, Richard Hannay who gets caught up quite suddenly on a dull London afternoon in a situation of extreme danger. Before he knows what is happening he is the obvious suspect for a murder committed in his own flat, and has to go on the run to his native Scotland.

The Thirty-Nine Steps is an adventure novel by the Scottish author John Buchan. It first appeared as a serial in Blackwood's Magazine in August and September 1915 before being published in book form in October that year by William Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh. It is the first of five novels featuring Richard Hannay, an all-action hero with a stiff upper lip and a miraculous knack for getting himself out of sticky situations.The novel formed the basis for a number of film adaptations: Alfred Hitchcock's 1935 version; a 1959 colour remake; a 1978 version; and a 2008 version for British television. In 2003 the book was listed on the BBC's The Big Read poll of the UK's "best-loved novels."John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir, GCMG, GCVO, CH, PC (26 August 1875 - 11 February 1940) was a Scottish novelist, historian, and Unionist politician who served as Governor General of Canada, the 15th since Canadian Confederation.After a brief legal career, Buchan simultaneously began his writing career and his political and diplomatic careers, serving as a private secretary to the administrator of various colonies in southern Africa. He eventually wrote propaganda for the British war effort during World War I. He was elected Member of Parliament for the Combined Scottish Universities in 1927, but he spent most of his time on his writing career, notably writing The Thirty-Nine Steps and other adventure fiction. In 1935, King George V, on the advice of Prime Minister R. B. Bennett, appointed Buchan to replace the Earl of Bessborough as Governor General of Canada, for which purpose Buchan was raised to the peerage. He occupied the post until his death in 1940.Buchan was enthusiastic about literacy and the development of Canadian culture, and he received a state funeral in Canada before his ashes were returned to the United Kingdom. Source: Wikipedia