Mr. Standfast

John Buchan

Oct 2013 · Harper Collins

About this ebook

Richard Hannay, one of Britain’s top secret agents, has been called on once-more to disrupt a German plot to knock Britain out of the War. Set near the end of the First World War, Mr. Standfast focuses on Hannay’s attempts to crack a web of German spies posing as pacifists in the heart of Britain. In this book he is pitted against an old foe, the master of disguise Von Schwabing, and is introduced to the beautiful nurse, Mary Lamington, as he works to save his country for a third-time. Ending in a climatic sequence that unfolds while a battle rages on the Western Front, Mr. Standfast is one of Buchan’s finest works and shows why he is regarded as an innovator of the espionage fiction genre.

About the author

Author of the iconic novel The Thirty-Nine Steps, John Buchan filled many roles including barrister, colonial administrator, publisher, Director of Intelligence, and Member of Parliament. The Thirty-Nine Steps, first in the Richard Hannay series, is widely regarded as the starting point for espionage fiction and was written to pass time while Buchan recovered from an illness. During the outbreak of the First World War, Buchan wrote propaganda for the British war effort, combining his skills as author and politician. In 1935 Buchan was appointed the 15th Governor General of Canada and established the Governor General’s Literacy Award. Buchan was enthusiastic about literacy and the evolution of Canadian culture. He died in 1940 and received a state funeral in Canada before his ashes were returned to the United Kingdom.