John Buchan Biography and List of Works

"Public life is regarded as the crown of a career, and to young men it is the worthiest ambition. Politics is still the greatest and the most honourable adventure."

Scottish diplomat, barrister, journalist, historian, poet, and novelist, whose most famous thriller is THE THIRTY-NINE STEPS (1915), his 27th book. Buchan's 100 works include nearly 30 novels and seven collections of short stories.

John Buchan was born in Peebles-Shire in Scotland the eldest son of Rev. John Buchan. He studied at the University of Glasgow and Brasenose College, Oxford, where he had an outstanding career, winning the Stanhope Essay Prize in 1897 and the Newdigate Prize in the following year. In 1901 he became a barrister of the Middle Temple and a private secretary to the High Commissioner for South Africa, Lord Milner (1901-03). This post opened the doors of the inner circle of bright young menfor Buchan, who made a career in the higher levels of the civil service.

In 1903 Buchan started to work for the publisher Thomas Nelson and Sons, revitalising publication of pocket editions of great literature and virtually editing The Spectator. In 1907 he married Susan Charlotte Grosvenor; they had three sons and one daughter. During World War I Buchan was a war correspondent before joining the army. He served on the Headquarters Staff of the British Army in France, as temporary Lieutenant Colonel (1916-17). When Lloyd George was appointed Prime Minister, Buchan was made Director of Information (1917-18) and then for a short time Director of Intelligence, a brief interlude in Buchan's career which he masked in some mystery.

From 1927-35 Buchan was Conservative MP for the Scottish universities. He then had a number of important government posts, serving among others as Lord High Commissioner of the Church of Scotland (1933-34). In 1935, after moving to Canada, he was created the first Baron Tweedsmuir of Elsfield, and served as the Governor General of Canada until his death on February 11, 1940.

As a writer Buchan started his career in the late 1890s, publishing his first novel, SIR QUIXOTE OF THE MOORS in 1895, while still a student at Brasenose College, Oxford, and such works as SCHOLAR-GIPSIES (1896) and HISTORY OF BRASENOSE (1898). After a sojourn in South Africa Buchan became a dedicated supporter of Britain's imperialism, and viewed some of his earlier literary endeavours rather uncomfortable: GREY WEATHER (1899), his first collection of tales and sketches, and THE WATCHER BY THE TRESHOLD (1902), includes some tacitly pagan stories.

The Thirty-Nine Steps presents spy-catcher Richard Hannay, who was modelled after a young Army officer named Edmund Ironside, later Field-Marshal Lord Ironside of Archangel. Buchan met him during WW I. Hannay has all the virtues needed to sustain the English through the Great War. Buchan's book was adapted onto the screen by Alfred Hitchcock. Buchan was one of Hitchcock's favorite writers, and the director toyed with the idea of filming Buchan's GREENMANTLE (1916). The basic outline of the book is thoroughly worked over in the film. The sequence in which Hannay is first protected and then betrayed by a jealous Highland crofter however, has no counterpart in the book .

Richard Hannay appeared again in Greenmantle, where the hero plays a spy and stops the Germans from using an Islamic prophet for their own ends. Another series character, Sandy Arbuthnot, tackles, alongside Hannay, a gang of international criminals in THE THREE HOSTAGES (1924). Lawyer Edward Leithen is the central character in three novels, starting with THE POWER-HOUSE (1916). THE DANCING FLOOR (1926) is a visionary fantasy based on Greek folklore. WITCH WOOD (1927), a historical novel, focuses on a congregation of stern Scottish Protestants, who adopt the trappings of devil worship. THE GAP IN THE CURTAIN (1932) is a supernatural story, in which the guests at a country house party are enabled by an unconventional scientist to catch a glimpse of an issue of the Times dated a year ahead.

Among Buchan's other works are the 24-volume NELSON'S HISTORY OF THE WAR (1915-19), biographies of Montrose (1913, 1928), Walter Scott (1932), Oliver Cromwell (1934) and Augustus (1937). Buchan's autobiography, MEMORY HOLD-THE-DOOR, was published in 1940.

For further reading: Clubland Heroes by Richard Usborne (1953); John Buchan: A Biography by Janet Adam Smith (1965); The Interpreter's House by David Daniell (1975); John Buchan and His World by Janet Adam Smith (1979); John Buchan: A Memoir by William Buchan (1982); St. James Guide to Horror, Ghost & Gothic Writers, ed. by David Pringle (1998, see entry by Brian Stableford).

SIR QUIXOTE OF THE MOORS, (1895)
SCHOLAR-GIPSIES, (1896)
SIR WALTER RALEIGH, (1897)
HISTORY OF BRASENOSE, (1898)
THE PILGRIM FATHERS, (1899)
JOHN BURNET OF BARNS, (1898)
GREY WEATHER: MOORLAND TALES OF MY OWN PEOPLE, (1899)
A LOST LADY OF OLD YEARS, (1899)
THE HALF-HEARTED, (1900)
THE WATCHER BY THE THRESHOLD AND OTHER TALES, (1902)
THE AFRICAN COLONY, (1903)
THE LAW RELATING TO THE TAXATION OF FOREIGN INCOME, (1905)
A LODGE IN THE WILDERNESS, (1906)
SOME EIGHTEEN CENTURY BYWAYS AND OTHER ESSAYS, (1908)
PRESTER JOHN, (1910)
SIR WALTER RALEIGH, (1911)
WHAT THE HOME RULE BILL MEANS, (1912)
THE MOON ENDURETH, (1912)
THE MARQUIS OF MONTROSE, (1913)
ANDREW JAMESON, LORD ARDWALL, (1913)
BRITAIN'S WAR BY LAND, (1915)
THE ACHIEVEMENT OF FRANCE, (1915)
NELSON'S HISTORY OF THE WAR, (1915)
SALUTE TO ADVENTURERS, (1915)
ORDEAL BY MARRIAGE: AN ECLOGUE, (1915)
THE THIRTY-NINE STEPS, (1915)
THE POWER HOUSE, (1916)
FUTURE OF THE WAR, (1916)
THE PURPOSE OF WAR, (1916)
GREENMANTLE, (1916)
POEMS, SCOTS AND ENGLISH, (1917)
MR. STANDFAST, (1919)
THESE FOR REMEMBRANCE, (1919)
THE BATTLE-HONOURS OF SCOTLAND, (1914)
THE HISTORY OF SOUTH AFRICAN FORCES IN FRANCE, (1920)
FRANCIS AND RIVERSDALE GRENFELL: A MEMOIR, (1920)
THE PATH OF THE KING, (1921)
HUNTINGTOWER, (1922)
A BOOK OF ESCAPES AND HURRIED JOURNEYS, (1922)
THE LAST SECRETS: THE FINAL MYSTERIES OF EXPLORATION, (1923)
THE MEMOIR OF SIR WALTER SCOTT, (1923)
DAYS TO REMEMBER, (1923)
MIDWINTER, (1923)
SOME NOTES ON SIR WALTER SCOTT, (1924)
LORD MINTO: A MEMOIR, (1924)
THE THREE HOSTAGES, (1924)
THE HISTORY OF ROYAL SCOTS FUSILIERS, (1678)
JOHN MCNAB, (1925)
THE MAN AND THE BOOK: SIR WALTER RALEIGH, (1925)
TWO ORDEALS OF DEMOCRACY, (1925)
THE DANCING FLOOR, (1926)
HOMILIES AND RECRESATIONS, (1926)
THE FIFTEENTH-SCOTTISH-DIVISION, (1914)
WITCH WOOD, (1927)
TO THE ELECTORS OF THE SCOTTISH UNIVERSITIES, (1927)
THE BATTLES OF CORONEL AND FALKLAND ISLANDS, (1927)
THE RUNAGATES CLUB, (1928)
THE COURTS OF THE MORNING, (1929)
CASTLE GAY, (1929)
THE CAUSAL AND THE CAUSAL IN HISTORY, (1929)
WHAT THE UNION OF THE CHURCHES MEANS TO SCOTLAND, (1929)
MONTROSE AND LEADERSHIP, (1930)
THE REVISION OF DOGMAS, (1930)
LORD ROSEBERY, (1847)
THE NOVEL AND THE FAIRY TALE, (1930)
THE BLANKET OF THE DARK, (1931)
THE GAP IN THE CURTAIN, (1932)
SIR WALTER SCOTT, (1932)
THE MAGIC WALKING-STICK, (1932)
JULIUS CAESAR, (1932)
THE MASSACRE OF GLENCOE, (1933)
ANDREW LANG AND THE BORDER, (1933)
A PRINCE OF THE CAPTIVITY, (1933)
THE MARGINS OF LIFE, (1933)
THE FREE FISHERS, (1934)
THE PRINCIPLES OF SOCIAL SERVICE, (1934)
THE SCOTISH CHURCH AND THE EMPIRE, (1934)
GORDON AT KHARTOUM, (1934)
OLVER CROMWELL, (1934)
MEN AND DEEDS, (1935)
THE KING'S GRACE, (1910)
AN ADDRESS, (1935)
ADDRESS, (1936)
THE ISLAND OF SHEEP / THE MAN FROM NORLANDS, (1936)
AUGUSTUS, (1937)
THE INTERPRETER'S HOUSE, (1938)
PRESBYTERIANISM YESTERDAY, TODAY, AND TOMORROW, (1938)
MEMORY HOLD-THE-DOOR, (1940)
COMMENTS AND CHARACTERS, (1940)
CANADIAN OCCASIONS, (1940)
SICK HEART RIVER / MOUNTAIN MEADOW, (1941)
THE LONG TRAVERSE, (1941)
THE CLEARING HOUSE: A SURVEY OF ONE MAN'S MIND, (1946)
LIFE'S ADVENTURE: EXTRACTS FROM THE WORKS OF JOHN BUCHAN, (1947)
THE BEST SHORT STORIES OF JOHN BUCHAN, (1980)