John Buchan (1) (1875–1940)
Author of The Thirty-Nine Steps
For other authors named John Buchan, see the disambiguation page.
About the Author
John Buchan was born in Perth on 26th August, 1875. Educated at Glasgow University and Brasenose College, Oxford, in 1898 Buchan won the Newdigate Prize for poetry. Although trained as a lawyer, Buchan became private secretary to Lord Alfred Milner, high commissioner for South Africa. In 1903 he show more returned to England where he became a director of the publishing company, Thomas Nelson & Sons. In 1910 Buchan had his first novel, Prester John, published. In July 1914, Blackwood's Magazine began serializing Buchan's The Thirty-Nine Steps. With Britain on the verge of war, the nation was obsessed with German spy fever and its subject matter made it an immediate success. When it was published in book form, it sold over 25,000 copies in three months. Charles Masterman, the journalist, was appointed head of the government's War Propaganda Bureau. Masterman recruited Buchan and asked him to organise the publication of a history of the war in the form of a monthly magazine. Published by his own company, the first installment of the Nelson's History of the War appeared in February, 1915. A further twenty-three appeared at regular intervals throughout the war. In the spring of 1915, Buchan agreed to become one of the five journalists attached to the British Army. He was given responsibility for providing articles for The Times and the Daily News. In June 1916, Buchan was recruited by the British Army to draft communiqués for Sir Douglas Haig and other members of the General Headquarters Staff. Given the rank of Second Lieutenant in the Intelligence Corps, Buchan was also provided with the documents needed to write the Nelson's History of the War. Buchan's History of the War provided the public with a completely false impression of what was going on the Western Front. Buchan also wrote a series of propoganda pamphlets published by Oxford University Press. In February, 1917, the government established a Department of Information. Given the rank Lieutenant Colonel, Buchan was put in charge on the department on an annual salary of £1,000 a year. After the war Buchan continued to write adventures stories such as Huntingtower, The Three Hostages, and Witch Wood (1927). He also became involved in politics and in 1927 was elected Conservative MP for the Scottish Universities. Buchan held the seat until granted the title Baron Tweedsmuir in 1935. Buchan was president of the Scottish History Society from 1929 to 1932, and wrote biographies of Montrose and Sir Walter Scott. Buchan also served as governor-general of Canada from 1935 to 1937 and chancellor of Edinburgh University from 1937 to 1940. John Buchan died on 12th February, 1940. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: George Grantham Bain Collection (Library of Congress).
Series
Works by John Buchan
The Leithen Stories: The Power-House, John Macnab, the Dancing Floor, Sick Heart River (2000) 34 copies, 1 review
The Adventures of Dickson McCunn: "Huntingtower", "Castle Gay", "House of the Four Winds" (1994) 33 copies, 1 review
Four Tales: The Thirty-Nine Steps; The Power-House; The Watcher by the Threshold; The Moon Endureth (2010) 24 copies
Nelson's History of the War IV : The Great Struggle in West Flanders, the Two Attacks on Warsaw, and the Fighting at… (2005) 23 copies
JOHN BUCHAN Ultimate Collection: Spy Classics, Thrillers, Adventure Novels & Short Stories, Including Historical Works… (2016) 13 copies
World War I - 9 Book Collection: Nelson's History of the War, The Battle of Jutland & The Battle of the Somme:… (2016) 12 copies
British Mystery Multipacks Vol. 6 - British Spy Mysteries: The 39 Steps, The Riddle of the Sands, Bulldog Drummond,… (2015) — Contributor — 8 copies
Supernatural Buchan - Stories of ancient spirits uncanny places and strange creatures (2007) 8 copies
Nelson's History of the War Volume XII : The Retreat from Bagdad, the Evacuation of Gallipoli, and the Derby Report (2005) 6 copies
Nelson's History of the War Volume XVIII : From the German Overtures for Peace to the American Declaration of War (1918) 5 copies, 1 review
Skule Skerry 4 copies
The causal and the casual in history 4 copies
Nelson's History of the War XVII : From the Opening of the Rumanian Campaign to the Change of Government in Britain (1918) 4 copies
The Green Wildebeest 3 copies
British Mystery Multipack Volume 11 - The Murders in the Rue Morgue, The Mystery of Marie Roget, A Stolen Letter,… (2016) 3 copies
Ship to Tarshish 2 copies
The last crusade 2 copies
The 39 Steps and Other Richard Hannay Adventures: A BBC Radio Collection of Full-Cast Dramatisations (2020) 2 copies
The Kings of Orion 2 copies
A Journey Of Little Profit 2 copies
The Herd Of Stanlan 2 copies
Fountainblue 2 copies
Great Hours in Sport 2 copies
On Cademuir Hill [short story] 2 copies
An Article of Death 1 copy
Best of John Buchan Volume 1 1 copy
The Rising of the Waters 1 copy
John Buchan's 1914: the World at War-The Naval Conflict & Global Campaigns of the Opening Year of the First World… (2014) 1 copy
Short Stories 1 copy
Italy (the nations of to-day a new history of the world) — Editor — 1 copy
Great Britain, Volume One 1 copy
Memory Hold-the-Door (Illustrated and annotated): John Buchan's autobiography and Pilgrim's Rest 1 copy
John Buchan : 28 Novels & 40+ Short Stories (Illustrated) : Thriller Classics, Spy Novels, Supernatural Tales,… (2017) 1 copy
Nelson's history of the war 1 copy
Great Britain, Volume Two 1 copy
The Thirty-Nine Steps 1 copy
English Literature, Vols. 1-2 — Introduction — 1 copy
Dr Lartius [short story] 1 copy
Human Quarry [short story] 1 copy
Gideon Scott [short story] 1 copy
The Post [short story] 1 copy
Nemesis [short story] 1 copy
The Shut Door [short story] 1 copy
The Green Glen [short story] 1 copy
Summer Weather [short story] 1 copy
The Lemnian [short story] 1 copy
Afternoon [short story] 1 copy
A Reputation [short story] 1 copy
Associated Works
Isaac Asimov's Magical Worlds of Fantasy, Volume 12: Faeries (1991) — Contributor — 209 copies, 4 reviews
To Catch a Spy: An Anthology of Favourite Spy Stories (1964) — Contributor, some editions; Contributor — 46 copies
The Edge of the Chair: A Superlative Collection, Some Fact, Some Fiction, All Suspense (1967) — Contributor — 43 copies, 1 review
Dangerous Dimensions: Mind-Bending Tales of the Mathematical Weird (2021) — Contributor — 42 copies, 1 review
The Ghost of Fear and Others: H. P. Lovecraft's Favorite Horror Stories Vol. 1 (2014) — Contributor — 26 copies
First over Everest : The Houston-Mount Everest Expedition, 1933 (1934) — Foreword — 23 copies, 1 review
Strange relics : stories of archaeology and the supernatural, 1895-1954 (2022) — Contributor — 19 copies
Arctic Journeys: The Story of the Oxford University Ellesmere Land Expedition (1936) — Foreword, some editions — 6 copies
Great Mystery Books, 10 Volumes (Journey into Fear, The 39 Steps, And Then There Were None, Maltese Falcon, The Nine… (1967) — Contributor — 5 copies
A Modern Galaxy: Short Stories — Contributor — 2 copies
Anthropologica Incognita: Wild Men, Strange Apes, and Fantastic Races in Classic Science Fiction and Fantasy (2009) — Contributor — 2 copies
Speculative Fiction and Imperialism in Africa (Political Future Fiction: Speculative and Counter-Factual Politics in… (2013) — Contributor — 1 copy
Modern Mystery and Adventure Novels: Portrait of Jennie; Jamaica Inn; The Thirty-Nine Steps; Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (2015) — Contributor — 1 copy
Rosemary — Contributor — 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Other names
- Tweedsmuir, Lord
Tweedsmuir, John Buchan, 1st Baron - Birthdate
- 1875-08-26
- Date of death
- 1940-02-11
- Burial location
- Elsfield, Oxfordshire, UK
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- UK
- Country (for map)
- Scotland, UK
- Birthplace
- Perth, Tayside, Scotland, UK
- Place of death
- Montréal, Québec, Canada
- Places of residence
- Perth, Tayside, Scotland, UK
Fife, Scotland, UK
South Africa
Oxford, England, UK
London, England, UK
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (show all 7)
Montréal, Québec, Canada - Education
- University of Glasgow (classics)
Oxford University (Brasenose College) (Literae Humaniores) - Occupations
- writer
journalist
military officer
politician
MP (Scottish Universities)
governor-general (Canada) (show all 8)
chancellor (Edinburgh University)
diplomat - Relationships
- Buchan, Anna (sister)
Buchan, Susan Grosvenor (wife)
Buchan, James (grandson)
Buchan, John Norman Stuart (son)
Buchan, William James de l'Aigle (son)
Buchan, Ursula (granddaughter) - Organizations
- Scottish Historical Society
- Awards and honors
- Privy Counsel of the United Kingdom (1937)
Order of Saint Michael and Saint George (Knight Grand Cross) (1935)
Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (1939)
Order of the Companions of Honour (1932)
Hereditary Peerage (1935)
Deputy Lieutenant (show all 9)
James Tait Black Memorial Prize (1928)
Newdigate Prize (1898)
Stanhope Prize (1897) - Short biography
- Buchan was the son of a Free Church minister, and grew up in Fife. He read classics at Glasgow University, winning a scholarship that enabled him to continue his studies at Oxford.
After graduating, he went to South Africa in the aftermath of the Boer War as aide to Alfred Milner. After an unsuccessful attempt to make his way as a lawyer, he went into publishing. In 1907, he linked himself to the English aristocracy by marrying the Duke of Westminster's cousin, Susan Grosvenor.
In the years immediately before World War I, he started to make a name for himself as a writer of adventure stories. T
During World War I he continued to write adventure stories in between propaganda work for the government and reporting the war for the Times.
After the war, Buchan settled down in a country house outside Oxford, later becoming a Unionist MP
In 1935 he was appointed Governor-General of Canada. At the time, this was an appointment that went with a peerage, so he became Baron Tweedsmuir. He died in 1940.
Members
Discussions
Folio Archives 393: Stories by John Buchan 2008 in Folio Society Devotees (September 20)
'The Grove of Ashtaroth' by John Buchan (1912?) in Gothic Literature (March 2019)
The Will You Join Me Reading-experiment: Mr. Standfast by John Buchan in 75 Books Challenge for 2014 (June 2014)
Reviews
Witch Wood: Authorised Edition by John Buchan
Probably only for the Buchan completist.
Excellent adventure story. Richard Hannay, fresh from mining operations in Rhodesia, is bored in London 1914. When a neighbor tells him a wild story, and then turns up murdered, Hannay, afraid of being accused of the murder, or having worse done to him by those who murdered the neighbor, heads North out of London and into the Scottish countryside, pursued by both police and nefarious plotters. The first half reminded me of Household's Rogue Male, in the chase across the countryside aspects. Buchan makes it all pretty exciting. In the foreword to the book, Buchan talks about adventure stories with all sorts of crazy coincidences, and this book is full of them, but he keeps it grounded and they don't spoil your enjoyment. I had thought I had seen one of the Hitchcock movies from this book, but I didn't remember the story, so I'll have to keep an eye out for them.… (more)
It was fine. Not quite as exciting as I had hoped and no character driven plot whatsoever.
Set just before WWI in England, the narrator tells the story of how, just after returning to London from a stint in the army in South Africa, he’s approached by a desperate neighbor with a fantastical story of German spies out to get him (the neighbor), faking his own death, and the need for a hideout. Our narrator obliges, but the Germans manage to find his new friend and kill him while Narrator is out. So N find himself on the run, both from the Evil German Spies and Scotland Yard, who now want him on murder charges. And so the rest of the story is, essentially, N running all round the English countryside, oh-so-cleverly tricking and eluding the bad guys at every turn.
Ho hum. Another first-person white dude telling how smart and resourceful he is in the face of danger. Self-insert spy fanfic much? At least this one doesn’t have any distressed damosels for him to misogynize all over. Blech. It’s supposed to be a classic, I suppose? But that just implicates it in the spread of this kind of tired trope.… (more)
Ho hum. Another first-person white dude telling how smart and resourceful he is in the face of danger. Self-insert spy fanfic much? At least this one doesn’t have any distressed damosels for him to misogynize all over. Blech. It’s supposed to be a classic, I suppose? But that just implicates it in the spread of this kind of tired trope.… (more)
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BBC Top Books (1)
Awards
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Statistics
- Works
- 270
- Also by
- 76
- Members
- 16,172
- Popularity
- #1,406
- Rating
- 3.6
- Reviews
- 396
- ISBNs
- 1,703
- Languages
- 21
- Favorited
- 4
