This is a complete collection of all John Buchan's books featuring the British hero and secret agent "Richard Hannay".
The Thirty-Nine Steps
In "The Thirty-Nine Steps", John Buchan introduces his most famous hero, Richard Hannay, who, despite claiming to be an "ordinary fellow", is caught up in the dramatic race against a plot to devastate the British war effort.
Hannay is hunted across the Scottish moors by police and a pitiless enemy in the corridors of Whitehall and, finally, at the site of the mysterious 39 steps.
Greenmantle
This novel continues the story of Richard Hannay, taking him from convalescence following the Battle of Loos, back to London for a vital meeting at the Foreign Office, and thence on a top-secret mission across war-torn German-occupied Europe.
Mr. Standfast
In Mr Standfast, the third of the novels featuring Richard Hannay, we meet again Pieter Pienaar and John S. Blenkiron.
It is 1917 and Hannay is brought out of the battlefield to perform the desperate task of tracking down and destroying a network of German spies.
Hannay's opponent is Morton Ivery, the bland master of disguise, who seeks to outwit Hannay as he and his agents are pursued through England, Scotland, France, and Switzerland.
For its pace and suspense, its changes of scene, and thrilling descriptions of the last great battles against the Germans, Mr Standfast offers everything that has made its author so enduringly popular.
The Three Hostages
At the end of World War I, Richard Hannay has retired to the Cotswolds.
There, news comes to him of three kidnappings and a plot of political and financial magnitude.
Hannay abandons his idyll to counter the threat and his adventures lead to an encounter with his most formidable enemy.
The Courts of the Morning
Although not a Richard Hannay story as such (he narrates the introduction to the story), this is a wonderful story of revolution in a (fictitious) South American country, and features the cast of characters from the earlier Richard Hannay books - Archie, Sandy, Blenkiron, and the rest.
It also forms an important "back story" for the final book in the omnibus, "The Island of Sheep".
The Island of Sheep
The Island of Sheep is John Buchan's last thriller, featuring the return of Richard Hannay, the hero of The Thirty-Nine Steps, Greenmantle, Mr Standfast and The Three Hostages, from a comfortable retirement.
Hannay redeems his promise to protect the son of an old acquaintance from a sinister conspiracy, and the action moves rapidly from England through the Scottish Borders to the Island of Sheep in the remote Norlands, where Hannay and his friends turn at last to confront their enemy.
Memorable for its vivid evocations of place, the novel constitutes a complex reflection upon its own position at the end of Buchan's career and at the end of a modern Scottish tradition of adventure romances.
advertisement