John Buchan

John Buchan

John Buchan was born in Perth on August 26, 1875. His father was a minister of the Free Church of Scotland; and in 1876 the family moved to Fife where, in order to attend the local school, the small boy had to walk six miles a day. Later they moved again to the Gorbals in Glasgow and John Buchan went to Hutchesons' Grammar School, Glasgow University (by which time he was already publishing articles in periodicals) and Brasenose College, Oxford. His years at Oxford—"spent peacefully in an enclave like a monastery"—nevertheless opened up yet more horizons and he published five books and many articles, won several awards including the Newdigate Prize for poetry. His career was equally diverse and successful after university and, despite ill-health and continual pain from a duodenal ulcer, he played a prominent part in public life as a barrister and Member of Parliament, in addition to being a writer, soldier and publisher. In 1907 he married Susan Grosvenor, and the marriage was supremely happy. They had one daughter and three sons. He was created Baron Tweedsmuir of Elsfield in 1935 and became the fifteenth Governor-General of Canada, a position he held until his death on February 11, 1940. "I don't think I remember anyone," wrote G. M. Trevelyan to his widow, "whose death evoked a more enviable outburst of sorrow, love and admiration."

John Buchan's first success as an author came with Prester John in 1910, followed by a series of adventure thrillers, or "shockers" as he called them, all characterized by their authentically rendered backgrounds, romantic characters, their atmosphere of expectancy and world-wide conspiracies, and the author's own enthusiasm. There are three main heroes: Richard Hannay, whose adventures are collected in The Complete Richard Hannay; Dickson McCunn, the Glaswegian provision merchant with the soul of a romantic, who features in Huntingtower, Castle Gay and The House of the Four Winds; and Sir Edward Leithen, the lawyer who tells the story of John MacNab and Sick Heart River, John Buchan's final novel. In addition, John Buchan established a reputation as an historical biographer with such works as Montrose (1913, 1928), Walter Scott (1932), Oliver Cromwell (1934) and Augustus (1937).

Title[9][22][23] Year of first
publication
First edition publisher
(London, unless otherwise stated)
Ref.
Sir Quixote of the Moors 1895 T. Fisher Unwin [24]
John Burnet of Barns 1898 John Lane [25]
A Lost Lady of Old Years 1899 John Lane [26]
The Half-Hearted 1900 Isbister. Serialised in Good Words, 1900[27] [28]
A Lodge in the Wilderness 1906 William Blackwood & Sons [29]
Prester John 1910 T. Nelson Publishers [30]
Salute to Adventurers 1915 T. Nelson Publishers [31]
The Thirty-Nine Steps 1915 William Blackwood & Sons [32]
The Power-House 1916 William Blackwood & Sons [33]
Greenmantle 1916 Hodder & Stoughton [34]
Mr Standfast 1918 Hodder & Stoughton [35]
The Path of the King 1921 Hodder & Stoughton [36]
Huntingtower 1922 Hodder & Stoughton [37]
Midwinter 1923 Hodder & Stoughton [38]
The Three Hostages 1924 Hodder & Stoughton [39]
John Macnab 1925 Hodder & Stoughton [40]
The Dancing Floor 1926 Hodder & Stoughton [41]
Witch Wood 1927 Hodder & Stoughton [42]
The Courts of the Morning 1929 Hodder & Stoughton [43]
Castle Gay 1930 Hodder & Stoughton [44]
The Blanket of the Dark 1931 Hodder & Stoughton [45]
The Gap in the Curtain 1932 Hodder & Stoughton [46]
The Magic Walking Stick 1932 Hodder & Stoughton [47]
A Prince of the Captivity 1933 Hodder & Stoughton [48]
The Free Fishers 1934 Hodder & Stoughton [49]
The House of the Four Winds 1935 Hodder & Stoughton [50]
The Island of Sheep 1936 Hodder & Stoughton [51]
Sick Heart River 1941 Hodder & Stoughton [52]
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John Buchan
9 Items found
Castle Gay
by John Buchan
from Houghton Mifflin
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Four Adventures of Richard Hannay
by John Buchan
from David R. Godine
Action Adventure for 8th-10th grade
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Greenmantle
by John Buchan
from Dover Publications
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$4.80 (1 in stock)
John Burnet of Barns
by John Buchan
1946 Reprint from Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Magic Walking Stick
by John Buchan
from Bodley Head
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Thirty-Nine Steps
by John Buchan
from Houghton Mifflin
Action Adventure for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
Thirty-Nine Steps
Dover Thrift Editions
by John Buchan
from Dover Publications
Action Adventure for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$2.55
Thirty-Nine Steps
by John Buchan
from Penguin Classics
Action Adventure for 8th-Adult
in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$11.05
Three Hostages
by John Buchan
1926 printing from Hodder & Stoughton
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)