The Adventures of Richard Hannay

John Buchan's The Thirty-Nine Steps, Mr. Standfast, and Greenmantle rank among my favorite historical fiction books of all time. Anyone even slightly interested in spy networks, World War I, or just war history in general will find these adventure stories fascinating. They are fast-paced, realistic, and hard to put down. Buchan interweaves the historical and the fictional so well that you can almost believe that his novels are entirely factual accounts of events that took place during the first World War. His writing talent is simply amazing.

Born in Scotland in 1875, and the son of a Presbyterian minister, Buchan was what you might call a 'jack-of-all-trades'...

"He was by turns a successful barrister, respected scholar, popular journalist, trusted diplomat, prolific author, efficient colonial administrator, innovative publisher, progressive politician, relentless reformer, and active churchmen... Best known for his historical romances and thrilling spy novels - he practically invented the genre - he was also the author of more than a hundred nonfiction works, including an authoritative multi-volume history of the First World War and biographies of Oliver Cromwell, Caeser Augustus, Lord Montrose, and Walter Scott... He helped to establish the British spy network... between 1922 and 1936 he wrote five books a year. For much of that time, he was ranked among the world's best-selling authors alongside his friends and acquaintances Rudyard Kipling, G.K. Chesterton, and Hilaire Belloc. Several of his books were made into full-length motion pictures." (The Christian Almanac by George Grant & Gregory Wilbur)

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The Thirty-Nine-Steps is the first in a series of books following the adventures of Englishman Richard Hannay, a mining engineer turned spy... During his stay in London, Hannay befriends a mysterious man named Skutter, who claims to be in possession of a vital secret concerning the looming war (WWI has not begun yet). But when Skutter is tracked down and murdered by German government agents, Hannay is thrown into a world of plots, intrigue and danger. He must elude his enemies, and discover Skutter's secret before time runs out. This is a classic spy novel.

Note: the book is nothing at all like the film version directed by Alfred Hitchcock. It is much, much better...

Recommended for ages 12 and up.

Greenmantle continues the adventures of Hannay. With World War I raging, he is sent on a secret mission across war-torn Europe to find and expose a dangerous German plot and an Islamic messiah. He is joined by friends, and together they work tirelessly to solve a mystery which could effect the outcome of World War I.

Recommended for ages 13 and up.

In Mr. Standfast, Richard Hannay poses as a pacifist, while secretly engaged in relentlessly trailing a cunning German spy. Danger is ever present in this fast-paced story, and Hannay's enemies are out to catch him at all costs before he ruins their carefully laid plots. In the words of Nathaniel Bluedorn, "Sometimes we wonder how a person can get into so many jams."

Recommended for ages 13 and up

There is a fourth book following the adventures of Richard Hannay (The Three Hostages), but I haven't yet had the opportunity of reading it. I have little doubt, however, that it's just as interesting as its predecessors...

Persevero,

Scribe