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Archie Roylance
Sir Archibald Roylance was a fictional character created by John Buchan. He appeared in many Buchan novels, never as the protagonist. He was a good friend of Richard Hannay and Edward Leithen despite being younger than them. According to one writer: In no novel is Roylance a protagonist, but usually, and less and less reluctantly, drawn into the affairs of others. Apart from Dougal and Jaikie of the Gorbals Diehards he is younger by a dozen years or more than all Buchan's paladins, a d'Artagnan among the Musketeers, and mostly they deal with him in avuncular fashion, but, ignored, mocked, overruled, he has their respect as well as their affection. Although he never attains their stature we are aware of achievement and potential. Buchan seems determined not to lose sight of Archie Roylance and returns to him repeatedly, dropping stitches which he will later pick up, so that he appears a character recollected rather than invented. In ''John Macnab'' Archie meets, falls in love with an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Buchan
John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir (; 26 August 1875 – 11 February 1940) was a Scottish novelist, historian, and Unionist politician who served as Governor General of Canada, the 15th since Canadian Confederation. After a brief legal career, Buchan simultaneously began his writing career and his political and diplomatic careers, serving as a private secretary to the administrator of various colonies in southern Africa. He eventually wrote propaganda for the British war effort during the First World War. He was elected Member of Parliament for the Combined Scottish Universities in 1927, but he spent most of his time on his writing career, notably writing '' The Thirty-Nine Steps'' and other adventure fiction. In 1935, King George V, on the advice of Prime Minister R. B. Bennett, appointed Buchan to replace the Earl of Bessborough as Governor General of Canada, for which purpose Buchan was raised to the peerage. He occupied the post until his death in 1940. Buchan was enthu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Hannay
Major-General Sir Richard Hannay, KCB, OBE, DSO, is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist John Buchan and further made popular by the 1935 Alfred Hitchcock film '' The 39 Steps'' (and other later film adaptations), very loosely based on Buchan's 1915 novel of the same name. In his autobiography, ''Memory Hold-the-Door'', Buchan suggests that the character is based, in part, on Edmund Ironside, from Edinburgh, a spy during the Second Boer War. Novels By Buchan Hannay appears in several novels as a major character, including: * '' The Thirty-Nine Steps'' (1915) * ''Greenmantle'' (1916) * ''Mr Standfast'' (1919) * ''The Three Hostages'' (1924) * ''The Island of Sheep'' (1936) He also appears as a minor character in: * ''The Courts of the Morning'' (1929) * ''Sick Heart River'' (1940) By other authors Robert J. Harris has written ''The Thirty-One Kings'' (2017) which purports to be the beginning of a new series called "Richard Hannay Returns" about his adventures ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edward Leithen
Sir Edward Leithen is a fictional character in several of John Buchan's novels: ''The Power-House'', ''John Macnab'', '' The Dancing Floor'', '' The Gap in the Curtain'' and ''Sick Heart River''. These were published over a number of years, the first in 1916 (although "The Power House" was originally published in a magazine in 1913), and the last in 1941, one year after Buchan's death. Leithen's name is borrowed from the Leithen Water, a tributary of the River Tweed, one of many references to the Scottish Borders in Buchan's novels. He also appears in ''The Return of John MacNab'' by Andrew Greig in a 1990s retelling of ''John Macnab''. Career In the books, Leithen is a Scottish barrister and a Conservative politician (and MP) and, at one point, an Attorney General. He is also described as an excellent fly fisherman (which forms an important part of ''John MacNab''.). He served in the British Army during World War I, starting as a private in the Grenadier Guards and ending as a G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mr Standfast
''Mr Standfast'' is the third of five Richard Hannay novels by John Buchan, first published in 1919 by Hodder & Stoughton, London. It is one of two Hannay novels set during the First World War, the other being ''Greenmantle'' (1916); Hannay's first and best-known adventure, '' The Thirty-Nine Steps'' (1915), is set in the period immediately before the war started. The title refers to a character in John Bunyan's ''Pilgrim's Progress'', to which there are many other references in the novel; Hannay uses a copy of ''Pilgrim's Progress'' to decipher coded messages from his contacts, and letters from his friend Peter Pienaar. Plot introduction During the later years of the First World War Brigadier-General Hannay is recalled from active service on the Western Front to undertake a secret mission hunting for a dangerous German agent at large in Britain. Hannay is required to work undercover disguised as a pacifist, roaming the country incognito to investigate a German spy and his age ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Huntingtower (novel)
''Huntingtower'' is a 1922 novel by the Scottish author John Buchan, initially serialised in ''Popular Magazine'' between August and September 1921. It is the first of his three Dickson McCunn books, the action taking place in the district of Carrick in Galloway, Scotland. Plot summary Having sold his Glasgow grocery-store business, 55-year-old Dickson McCunn decides to start his retirement with a walking holiday in the district of Carrick in Galloway. At a local inn he meets John Heritage, a poet and ex-soldier, as well as an unnamed young man who asks after a place called 'Darkwater' that nobody has heard of. McCunn and Heritage decide to spend the next night at the village of Dalquaharter where they are taken in by a local widow, Phemie Morran. They investigate the local big house, Huntingtower, where – although the place is ostensibly empty – they hear a woman singing. Heritage recognises the voice as that of a Russian princess he had fallen in love with from afa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Three Hostages
''The Three Hostages'' is the fourth of five Richard Hannay novels by the Scottish author John Buchan, first published in 1924 by Hodder & Stoughton, London. Hannay had previously appeared in '' The Thirty Nine Steps'' (1915), his most famous adventure, in which he battles German spies across the United Kingdom, and in two books about his activities during the First World War, ''Greenmantle'' (1916) and ''Mr Standfast'' (1919). Plot introduction After the War, Hannay is married to Mary and living peacefully in the Cotswolds, when he receives a request to help solve the mysterious kidnapping of the children of three prominent people. Given nothing to go on but a few mysterious clues, Hannay, assisted by friends like Sandy Arbuthnot, must track down the dastardly villains behind the plot before it's too late... Plot summary It is some time after the war, and Sir Richard Hannay is living in rural tranquility, having bought Fosse Manor and married Mary Lamington (both featured i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Macnab
''John Macnab'' is a novel by John Buchan, published in 1925. Plot summary Three successful but bored friends in their mid-forties decide to turn to poaching. They are Sir Edward Leithen, lawyer, Conservative Member of Parliament (MP), and ex-Attorney General; John Palliser-Yeates, banker and sportsman; and Charles, Earl of Lamancha, former adventurer and present Conservative Cabinet Minister. Under the collective name of "John Macnab", they set up in the Highland home of Sir Archie Roylance, a disabled war hero who wishes to be a Conservative MP. They issue a challenge to three of Roylance's neighbours: first the Radens, who are an old-established family, about to die out; next, the Bandicotts: an American archaeologist and his son, who are renting a grand estate for the summer while excavating the tomb of Harald Blacktooth; and lastly the Claybodys, vulgar, be-kilted ''nouveaux riches''. These neighbours are forewarned that "John Macnab" will poach a salmon or a stag from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Courts Of The Morning
''The Courts of the Morning'' is a 1929 adventure novel by John Buchan, featuring his character Sandy Arbuthnot. The prologue is narrated by Richard Hannay, so the novel is sometimes included in Buchan's Hannay series. The action is set in Olifa, a fictional country on the west coast of South America. Plot introduction When Sandy Arbuthnot's friend John Blenkiron discovers that a charismatic industrial tycoon is plotting to rule the world from his base in the small South American country of Olifa, Sandy leads a revolution to scuttle the plot and allow the Olifans to decide their own fate. Plot summary The book opens with a prologue narrated by Hannay, describing how Hannay is approached by the American military attache in London to covertly solve the mystery of Blenkiron's disappearance in South America. Hannay seeks out his friend Sandy Arbuthnot for help, but Sandy soon disappears, sending Hannay a mysterious letter saying to lie low and keep quiet. The action next moves to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The House Of The Four Winds
''The House of the Four Winds'' is a 1935 adventure novel by the Scots author John Buchan. It is a Ruritanian romance, and the last of his three Dickson McCunn books. The novel is set in the fictional Central European country of Evallonia and opens two years after the events recounted in '' Castle Gay''. Plot introduction At the beginning of the novel several characters formerly seen in '' Huntingtower'' and '' Castle Gay'' are about to go to Europe for the summer: Dickson McCunn to a German Kurhaus for his health; Alison Westwater to join her parents Lord and Lady Rhynns at Unnutz in Germany; Archie Roylance to attend a dull conference in Geneva along with his wife Janet; John 'Jaikie' Galt on a walking tour; and Dougal Crombie on a mission for his newspaper. Plot While on his walking tour Jaikie meets Randal Glynde - now proprietor of the Cirque Doré - who encourages him to visit Evallonia, and arranges for him to meet one of the leading monarchists, Prince Odalchini, at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Island Of Sheep
''The Island of Sheep'' is a 1936 novel by the Scottish author John Buchan, the last of his novels to focus on his characters Richard Hannay and Sandy Arbuthnot. It was published in the United States under the title ''The Man from the Norlands''. Plot summary The action occurs twelve years later on from the last novel, when Hannay, now in his fifties, is called by an old oath to protect the son of a man he once knew, who is also heir to the secret of a great treasure. He obtains help from Sandy Arbuthnot, now Lord Clanroyden, and Lombard. The action takes place in England, in Scotland and on the Island of Sheep, which is in what Buchan calls the Norlands: clearly the Faroe Islands. There are several stereotypical villains, in particular D'Ingraville from ''The Courts of the Morning'', and the book also focuses on Hannay's son, Peter John, now a bright but solemn teenager. In Book I Richard Hannay is on his way down to the Solent to lay up his yacht. He has heard a speech in P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sick Heart River
''Sick Heart River'' (1941) is a novel by Scottish author John Buchan set in Canada. It was published posthumously. The book was published in the United States under the title ''Mountain Meadow''. Plot summary Sir Edward Leithen is diagnosed with advanced tuberculosis and given a year to live. While he is deciding how to spend his remaining days, an American associate, John S. Blenkiron, requests help to find his niece's husband, Francis Galliard, who has disappeared from his very successful financial career in New York and fled to Canada. Leithen follows Galliard to Quebec. During this he finds a mountain meadow he had seen on a trip thirty years earlier and which has stayed in his memory since. Leithen finds Galliard and nurses him back to health. He then decides to stay with some Indians and help them. Background Buchan wrote this while Governor General of Canada and Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh. It was published posthumously following his death as a result of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Male Characters In Literature
Male (symbol: ♂) is the sex of an organism that produces the gamete (sex cell) known as sperm, which fuses with the larger female gamete, or ovum, in the process of fertilization. A male organism cannot reproduce sexually without access to at least one ovum from a female, but some organisms can reproduce both sexually and asexually. Most male mammals, including male humans, have a Y chromosome, which codes for the production of larger amounts of testosterone to develop male reproductive organs. Not all species share a common sex-determination system. In most animals, including humans, sex is determined genetically; however, species such as ''Cymothoa exigua'' change sex depending on the number of females present in the vicinity. In humans, the word ''male'' can also be used to refer to gender in the social sense of gender role or gender identity. Overview The existence of separate sexes has evolved independently at different times and in different lineages, an example o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
