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John Buchan

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Pulp Fiction orPatriotic Propaganda?

DeLynn CarlingWilliam BruggerENG 333September 12, 2011

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Introduction  

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Introduction  

I’ve  been  acquainted  with  John  Buchan’s  work  longer  than  I’ve  known  his  name.  

As  a  fan  of  classic  films  since  my  early  teens,  I’d  seen  Alfred  Hitchcock’s  1934  film  

adaptation  of  The  Thirty  Nine  Steps  countless  times.  But  it  was  only  recently  that  I  

discovered  that  the  film  was  based  on  John  Buchan’s  seminal  novel.  In  a  very  real  

sense,  characters  like  James  Bond  and  Jason  Bourne  inherited  much  of  their  literary  

DNA  from  the  novel’s  hero,  Richard  Hannay,  since  Buchan  is  arguably  the  father  of  

the  modern  spy  genre.    

Though  Buchan’s  novels  inspired  later  writers  like  Ian  Fleming  and  Robert  

Ludlum,  his  work  stands  apart  from  theirs  in  some  significant  ways.  The  Thirty  Nine  

Steps  is  the  quintessential  man-­‐on-­‐the-­‐run,  good  vs.  evil  story,  like  the  Bourne  

franchise,  but  unlike  these  and  Fleming’s  James  Bond  novels,  Buchan  did  not  rely  on  

violence  or  sex  to  spice  up  his  stories.  His  strait-­‐laced  upbringing  and  Victorian-­‐era  

sense  of  morality  are  evident  in  his  writing.  He  used  his  novels  as  a  pulpit  to  preach  

his  strongly  held  beliefs.  It  is  perhaps  this  inherent  wholesomeness  that  prompted  

“parent,  uncle,  guardian,  pastor,  and  master”  to  enthusiastically  recommend  them  to  

children  (Stafford  1).  Sadly,  the  same  cannot  be  said  for  many  of  the  writers  that  

followed.  

Beginning  with  The  Thirty  Nine  Steps,  and  continuing  on  with  the  other  novels  in  

which  Richard  Hannay  appears,  we  can  trace  not  only  the  character’s  development  

and  transformation  as  a  result  of  his  experiences,  but  by  extension,  Buchan’s  own  

changing  attitudes  toward  war  and  the  effect  it  had  on  him.  In  essence,  Buchan’s  

novels  offer  us  a  glimpse  into  the  evolving  psyche  of  a  man  whose  tales  have  

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captured  the  imagination  of  generations  of  readers  for  nearly  a  hundred  years.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Biographical  Impressions  

  John  Buchan  was  born  August  26,  1875,  in  Perth,  Scotland,  to  John  and  Helen  

Buchan.  As  a  minister  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  Buchan’s  father  was  a  well-­‐

educated  man  who  sought  to  instill  in  his  children  a  love  of  God,  a  respect  for  nature,  

and  a  thirst  for  knowledge.  By  his  own  admission,  John  was  initially  a  poor  student,  

stating  that  he  “did  not  think  that  [he]  ever  consciously  did  any  work,”  but  he  

eventually  caught  his  father’s  educational  vision  (J.  Buchan  31).  Through  “periods  of  

beaver-­‐like  toil  and  monkish  seclusion”  while  attending  Glasgow  University,  John  

was  able  to  earn  a  scholarship  to  study  at  Brasenose  College  at  Oxford  (W.  Buchan  

84).  

After  graduating  from  Oxford,  Buchan  accepted  a  position  working  for  the  

British  government  in  South  Africa,  organizing  refugee  camps  following  the  Boer  

War.  The  misery  he  witnessed  during  the  two  years  he  spent  in  Africa  “completely  

unsettled”  him.  This  experience  would  have  a  lasting  impact  on  his  life  and  the  

views  he  held  regarding  his  homeland:  “I  began  to  have  an  ugly  fear  that  the  Empire  

might  decay  at  the  heart”  (W.  Buchan  107).  Buchan’s  fear  would  become  reality,  as  

the  events  of  World  War  I  unfolded.  Like  many  of  his  fellow  countrymen,  Buchan  

was  an  ardent  supported  of  the  war  at  its  onset.  He  worked  as  a  war  correspondent,  

reporting  from  the  Front  for  The  Times  (Smith  62),  and  then  later  for  the  British  

Intelligence  Corps  and  Ministry  of  Information,  writing  propaganda  and  recording—

sometimes  with  a  decidedly  optimistic  bent—the  history  of  the  war  (W.  Buchan  

141).    But  as  the  war  progressed  and  the  casualties  mounted,  Buchan’s  feelings  

began  to  change.  He  acquired  “a  bitter  detestation  of  war,  less  for  its  horrors  than  

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for  its  futility”  (Stafford  9).  In  the  few  years  immediately  following  the  publication  of  

The  Thirty  Nine  Steps,  Buchan  experienced  profound  loss  and  grief.  His  younger  

brother,  Alastair,  as  well  as  five  of  his  close  friends  lost  their  lives  in  the  war.  In  a  

thinly  veiled  example  of  art  imitating  life,  Richard  Hannay’s  farewell  to  his  lost  

comrade  in  Mr.  Standfast  is  actually  “Buchan’s  lament  for  his  dead  companions,  for  

his  own  youth,  and  for  an  entire  generation”  (Stafford  9).    

Perhaps  triggered  by  his  grief,  Buchan’s  fear  of  chaos  just  beneath  the  placid  

surface  of  civilization  reemerged,  eventually  spilling  over  into  his  writing.  Fittingly,  

he  used  one  of  his  villains  to  articulate  this  idea:  “You  think  that  a  wall  as  solid  as  the  

earth  separates  civilization  from  Barbarism,  I  tell  you  the  division  is  a  thread,  a  

sheet  of  glass”  (Harvie  35).    

Buchan  consciously  chose  to  use  his  novels  as  a  forum  for  addressing  the  issues  

he  felt  were  endangering  society  as  a  whole,  and  Britain  in  particular:  the  rise  of  

irrationality,  terrorism,  demagoguery,  and  nihilism  (Stafford  21).  Proponents  of  the  

newly  emerging  Modern  movement  embraced  many  of  these  philosophies;  his  

rejection  of  these  ideas  and  ideals  made  Buchan  essentially  an  anti-­‐Modernist.  He  

used  the  “shocker,”  his  name  for  his  popular  novels,  to  “propound  his  personal  

gospel  in  a  new  age  of  darkness”  (10).  They  were  “simply  a  means  of  expressing  

fundamental  truths  and  philosophies  of  life”  (20).  ““They  are  only  sport,”  T.  E.  

Lawrence  once  said  of  them.  “But,”  he  added,  “will  a  century  hence  disinter  them  

and  proclaim  him  the  great  romancer  of  our  blind  and  undeserving  generation?””  

(21).  

   

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Web  Sites  

 

 

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/medals-­‐buchan.asp    

 

 

 

http://archives.queensu.ca/Exhibits/buchan.html    

 

 

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/arts/writingscotland/writers/john_buchan/    

The  National  Archives  is  the  official  archive  of  the  UK  government.  It  contains  over  1,000  years  of  history.  John  Buchan’s  census  and  military  service  records  are  available  as  pdf  scans  of  the  original  documents.  

Queen’s  University  Archives  is  maintained  by  Queen’s  University,  Kingston,  Ontario,  Canada.  It  contains  an  extensive  electronic  exhibit  dedicated  to  the  life  and  work  of  John  Buchan,  former  Governor-­‐General  of  Canada.  

The  BBC  website  contains  a  section  on  John  Buchan  as  part  of  their  Writing  Scotland  series.  There  is  a  biography  page,  a  page  focusing  on  Buchan’s  writing,  a  reading  list  that  includes  all  of  his  primary  works,  as  well  as  secondary  sources  such  as  biographies.    

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http://www.johnbuchansociety.co.uk/index.html    

 

 

 

http://www.online-­‐literature.com/john-­‐buchan/  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This  website  is  maintained  by  the  John  Buchan  Society,  an  amateur  organization  dedicated  to  the  life  and  work  of  John  Buchan.  The  most  useful  components  of  this  website  are  the  extensive,  chronological—and  often  hyperlinked-­‐-­‐lists  of  Buchan’s  writings  and  the  John  Buchan  Links  page.  

The  Literature  Network  provides  a  fairly  comprehensive  biography  of  John  Buchan  as  well  as  links  to  related  articles  and  essays  about  the  author’s  work.    

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Critical  Interpretations  

“John  Buchan’s  Tales  of  Espionage:  A  Popular  Archive  of  British  History”  

David  Stafford  suggests  The  Thirty  Nine  Steps  and  other  Buchan  war  novels  serve  

as  a  sort  of  everyman’s  archive  of  British  history.  During  the  interwar  years,  it  was  a  

rare  schoolboy  who  hadn’t  read  of  the  exploits  of  Richard  Hannay  and  company.  

Though  not  assigned  as  homework,  Stafford  states  that  Buchan  was  “certainly  

strongly  recommended  to  the  schoolboy  by  parent,  uncle,  guardian,  pastor,  and  

master  .  .  .  Buchan  was  good  for  you”  (Stafford).  

  It  wasn’t  only  the  school-­‐age  population  that  was  influenced  by  Buchan’s  

writing.  Stafford  names  some  of  the  public  figures  that  were  influenced  by  John  

Buchan’s  popular  novels,  including  two  British  Prime  ministers  (A.  J.  Balfour  and  

Clement  Attlee),  the  founder  of  the  Boy  Scouts,  Sir  Robert  Baden-­‐Powell;  and  an  

American  president,  Theodore  Roosevelt.    

Granted,  Buchan’s  novels  were  interesting  and  amusing,  and  by  his  own  

admission,  were  written  “simply  to  entertain  the  troops,”  but  they  also  contained  

“the  implicit  message  that  there  [was]  far  more  to  the  war  than  simple  romantic  

patriotism”  (7).  Buchan’s  personal  views  frequently  crept  into  his  writing.  He  used  

his  novels  as  a  “pulpit”  of  instruction  to  address  his  public  concerns.  “Buchan  found  

not  only  a  vehicle  which  would  transport  his  readers  to  a  land  of  romance  and  

adventure,  but  maps  to  guide  them  on  their  secular  pilgrimage  through  the  tortuous  

ethical  and  social  landscape  of  the  early  twentieth  century”  (4).  Rather  than  being  

dismissed  as  light  reading,  Stafford  recommends  they  be  viewed  as  “important  

cultural  artifacts”  (21).  

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“Second  Thoughts  of  a  Scotsman  on  the  Make:  Politics,  Nationalism  and  Myth  in  

John  Buchan”  

  In  light  of  John  Buchan’s  remarkable  staying  power  in  comparison  to  some  of  

his  contemporaries,  Christopher  Harvie  has  undertaken  a  reexamination  of  the  

author  and  the  man.  Much  has  been  revealed  through  the  efforts  of  members  of  the  

John  Buchan  Society.  They  call  his  writing  “a  remarkably  complex  web  of  literary  

and  moral  allusion.”  But  the  idea  of  Buchan  as  a  straightforward  character  still  

persists  (Harvie).    

  Buchan  had  much  in  common  with  Sir  Walter  Scott,  fellow  countryman  and  

subject  of  one  of  his  biographies;  he  purposely  cultivated  the  similarities.  “Buchan  

resembled  Scott  in  cultivating  a  rural  landscape  while  embracing  the  opportunities  

of  print-­‐capitalism”  (32).  Buchan  was  more  successful  in  this  endeavor  than  was  

Scott.  While  character  development  was  not  necessarily  his  strong  point,  Buchan’s  

true  talent  was  evident  in  his  landscape  description.  Nature  became  a  character  in  

Buchan’s  novels.  According  to  William,  Buchan’s  son,  “[he]  could  envisage  evil  

inhering  in  places  and  this  pitiless  landscape  seems  to  permeate  those  who  live  

around  it”  (40).  

  Harvie  observes  a  decided  sense  of  isolation  in  Buchan.  Though  he  served  as  a  

Member  of  Parliament,  he  felt  separated  from  the  political  system.  This  is  evident  in  

his  writing;  Buchan  “intentionally  and  unintentionally  reveal[ed]  .  .  .  his  perception  

of  his  socio-­‐cultural  predicament”  by  endowing  some  of  his  characters  with  similar  

feelings  of  separation.  Buchan  even  went  so  far  as  to  create  an  autobiographical  

character,  an  Anglo-­‐Scots  lawyer  named  Edward  Leithen  (34).    

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“Warriors  in  Flight:  John  Buchan’s  War  Novels”  

Mary  Noelle  Ng  gives  an  overview  of  three  of  John  Buchan’s  novels,  The  Thirty  

Nine  Steps,  Greenmantle,  and  Mr.  Standfast,  tracing  the  development  of  Richard  

Hannay,  the  protagonist.  Ng  suggests  that  when  read  together,  the  novels  “reflect  an  

outsider’s  growing  allegiance  to  the  idea  of  the  British  Empire  and  its  ideals  through  

the  war  years”  (Ng).  

In  The  Thirty  Nine  Steps,  Hannay  is  the  “hero-­‐on-­‐the-­‐run.”  Buchan  purposely  

portrays  him  as  an  innocent  man  fighting  unknown  enemies  to  ensure  the  reader’s  

sympathy.  Ng  points  out  that  while  The  Thirty  Nine  Steps  might  seem  

“inappropriately  light-­‐hearted”  when  compared  to  the  events  taking  place  

throughout  Europe,  the  novel  “reflects  the  attitude  of  the  British  at  the  beginning  of  

the  war”  (189).  

Greenmantle  focuses  less  on  the  character  of  Richard  Hannay,  following  instead  a  

group  of  spies,  including  a  Scottish  aristocrat  named  Sandy  Arbuthnot  (a  character  

who  would  come  to  bear  a  striking  resemblance  to  T.  E.  Lawrence  in  Buchan’s  later  

novels).  Like  many  of  the  novelists  of  the  time,  Buchan  was  not  above  incorporating  

jingoism  in  his  books  to  promote  his  message,  but  Greenmantle  is  particularly  

“noteworthy  for  its  complex  portrayals  of  the  Germans”  (190).    

Mr.  Standfast  takes  on  a  more  serious  tone  than  the  previous  two  Hannay  war  

novels.    It  examines  external  elements  that  were  “undermining  the  war  effort”  

including  the  conscientious  objector.  Buchan  uses  emotion-­‐charged  scenes  within  

the  novel  to  articulate  the  grief  he  and  others  must  have  been  experiencing  as  more  

and  more  of  their  friends  and  relatives  became  war  casualties  (191).  

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Principle  Critics  

David  Daniell  is  an  English  literary  scholar  and  editor.  He  wrote  The  Interpreter’s  

House:  a  Critical  Assessment  of  John  Buchan  in  1975,  and  also  edited  several  volumes  

of  John  Buchan’s  short  stories  in  the  1980s.  He  studied  at  Oxford  University,  earning  

both  a  Bachelor’s  and  Master’s  of  Arts.  He  is  an  emeritus  professor  at  University  

College  London.    

  Christopher  Harvie  is  a  Scottish  historian  and  politician,  a  member  of  the  

Scottish  Parliament  from  2007  to  2011.  Like  John  Buchan,  he  grew  up  in  the  Borders  

of  Scotland.  He  graduated  from  the  University  of  Edinburgh,  earning  an  M.A.  in  

history,  and  later,  a  PhD.  In  1991,  he  wrote  “Second  Thoughts  of  a  Scotsman  on  the  

Make:  Politics,  Nationalism  and  Myth  in  John  Buchan,”  an  essay  published  in  The  

Scottish  Historical  Review.  

Janet  Adam  Smith  (1905-­‐1999)  was  a  writer,  editor,  and  literary  critic  who  was  

active  in  the  1930s  and  beyond.  At  the  request  of  the  Buchan  family,  she  wrote  John  

Buchan:  A  Biography  in  1965,  which  was  highly  successful.  She  wrote  a  follow-­‐up  

volume  titled  John  Buchan  and  His  World  in  1979  when  she  gained  access  to  

additional  archives  and  the  personal  papers  of  Buchan  after  the  death  of  his  widow  

in  1977.  “Her  profound  understanding  of  Buchan's  temperament  and  habit  of  mind  

owed  much  to  their  common  cultural  background  of  the  democratic  and  

independent-­‐minded  Free  Church”  (Smith).  

Richard  Alexander  Usborne  (1910-­‐2006)  was  a  journalist  and  author.  Born  in  

India  to  a  civil  servant,  he  was  educated  in  England,  graduating  from  Balliol  College  

at  Oxford.  He  was  known  as  the  leading  authority  on  the  life  and  writings  of  P.G.  

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Wodehouse,  but  he  was  also  “a  devotee  .  .  .  of  John  Buchan  [and  other]  upper  middle  

class  novelists  whose  work  he  had  first  read  during  childhood  illnesses”  (Usborne).  

In  1953,  he  published  a  study  of  their  work  entitled  Clubland  Heroes.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Works  Cited  

Buchan,  John.  Memory  Hold-­‐The-­‐Door.  Toronto:  Musson  Book  Company,  1940.  

Print.  This  is  less  an  autobiography  than  a  memoir  written  some  years  after  the  

events  in  question.    

Buchan,  William.  John  Buchan:  A  Memoir.  London:  Harrap,  1985.  Print.  This  is  a  

memoir  written  by  Buchan’s  son.  

“Christopher  Harvie.”  Wikipedia.  Web.  5  Dec.  2011.  This  is  a  brief  description  of  

the  author  and  his  notable  accomplishments.  

 “David  Daniell.”  Wikipedia.  Web.  5  Dec.  2011.  See  previous  description.  

Harvie,  Christopher.  “Second  Thoughts  of  a  Scotsman  on  the  Make:  Politics,  

Nationalism  and  Myth  in  John  Buchan.”  The  Scottish  Historical  Review,  70.1  (Apr.  

1991):  JSTOR.  Web.  5  Dec.  2011.  This  is  an  interesting  article  reexamining  Buchan’s  

contribution  to  the  literary  canon.  

 “Janet  Adams  Smith.”  Wikipedia.  Web.  5  Dec.  2011.  This  is  a  brief  description  of  

the  author  and  her  notable  accomplishments  and  credentials.    

Ng,  Maria  Noelle.  “Warriors  in  Flight:  John  Buchan’s  War  Novels.”  Canadian  

Literature,  (Winter  2003):  JSTOR.  Web.  15  Oct.  2011.  This  is  a  useful  overview  of  

three  of  Buchan’s  war  novels.  

 “Richard  Alexander  Usborne.”  Wikipedia.  Web.  5  Dec.  2011.  This  is  a  brief  

description  of  the  author  and  his  notable  accomplishments  and  credentials.    

Smith,  Janet  Adam.  John  Buchan  and  His  World.  Charles  Scribner’s  Sons:  New  

York,  1979.  Print.  This  is  Smith’s  follow  up  volume  to  her  initial  biography  of  

Buchan,  which  was  written  at  the  request  of  the  Buchan  family.  

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Stafford,  David.  “John  Buchan’s  Tales  of  Espionage:  A  Popular  Archive  of  British  

History.”  Canada  Journal  of  History,  18.1  (Apr.  1983):  1-­‐29.  Academic  Search  Premier.  

Web.  15  Oct.  2011.  This  is  a  very  thorough  article  discussing  the  impact  of  Buchan’s  

novels  on  multiple  generations  of  readers,  and  their  role  as  an  informal  record  of  

British  history.