John Buchan

John Buchan

John Buchan was born on August 26th, 1875. John passed away February 11th, 1940 at 64 years old. John Buchan was born in Perth, Scotland. Buchan attended the University of Glasgow and Brasenose College, Oxford.

John Buchan was a historian, novelist, and Unionist politician that served as Governor General of Canada.

While he was a youth, he started writing prose and poetry, non-fiction and fiction, where he published his first novel in 1895 and went to write more than 100 books.

He spent a number of summer vacations with his maternal grandparents in Broughton in the Scottish Borders. It was here that he developed a love for walking and for the local scenery and wildlife, each of which are featured quite often in his books. The protagonist in a number of his novels is Sir Edward Leithen, whose name has been borrowed from Leithen Water, this tributary of the River Tweed.

The family moved to Glasgow, and John went to Hutchesons’ Boys’ Grammar School. He received a scholarship to the University of Glasgow when he was 17, where he studied classics as Gilbert Murray’s student, wrote poetry, and became a published author.

While he attended Oxford, he made a number of friends including Aubrey Herbert, Raymond Asquith, and Tommy Nelson.

Witch Wood was Buchan’s favorite novel, and was an inspiration for the young C.S. Lewis. It’s a horrifying portrait of an intolerant and cruel age.

David Sempill is getting ripped apart. Idealistic and young, his loyalty to his King has conflicted with his Covenanting sympathies, which are, in turn, tested by the brutality that he witnesses toward Montrose’s beaten army.

Black magic is revealed in the ancient Witch Wood, as a man of God he has to fight it, however his love for the pagan and beautiful Katrine and the religious extremism of this period puts him in the middle of a deadly spiral.

The Thirty-Nine Steps has been selected as one of the 100 best novels in English by The Guardian.

Richard Hannay is an adventurer that’s just returned from South Africa, and is bored with life. However after this chance encounter with an American that informs him about an assassination plot before promptly getting murdered right in Hannay’s own London flat, he becomes an obvious suspect and is forced to go on the run. He goes up north to his native Scotland, fleeing from the cops and all of his enemies. Hannay has to keep his wits about him if he’s to warn the government before time runs out.

This classic spy thriller sold 1 million copies before John’s death in 1940, has been adapted numerous times for film (including once by Alfred Hitchcock), TV, and the stage, and features the most exciting chase scene in fiction history.

John Buchan: Lists & Other Mentions

• Greenmantle was a Counterpunch: 100 Best Novels in English Since 1900 Selection in 2014 and a Crime Writers' Association: Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time Selection in 1990.
• The Thirty-Nine Steps has made several lists including:
  1. The Guardian: 100 Best Novels Written in English Selection in 2015.
  2. The Guardian: 100 Greatest Novels of All Time Selection in 2003 and 2015.
  3. BBC: The Big Read Selection in 2003.
  4. Crime Writers' Association: Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time Selection in 1990.
  5. NPR: Top 100 Killer Thrillers Selection in 2010.
  6. Mystery Writers of America: Top 100 Mystery Novels of All Time Selection in 1995.
• Mr. Standfast was a BBC: 100 Novels That Shaped Our World Selection in 2019.

Related Authors

Fans of John Buchan also enjoy these authors:

1. Ken Follett, author of the Kingsbridge Series.
2. John Le Carre, author of the George Smiley Series.
3. Dan Brown, author of the Robert Langdon Series.
4. Anthony Horowitz, author of the Susan Ryeland Series.
5. Michael Connelly, author of the Harry Bosch Series.

John Buchan: F.A.Q