Most Popular Books by John Buchan

We wonder that so great a man as Abraham Lincoln should spring from humble people — but who knows what his more distant ancestry might have been? In a series of dramatic chapters, Mr. Buchan tells what he imagines to have been the ancestry of Lincoln. The worthy son of a northern chieftain who had come down with his people into Normandy; a Norman knight who fought under Duke William and settled in England; a French knight, emissary of Saint Louis to Kubla Khan; a proud demoiselle, friend to Jeanne d''Arc; a French gentleman who went with Columbus on his second voyage; an avenger of Saint Bartholomew''s Day; a friend to Sir Walter Raleigh; a supporter of Cromwell; a soldier of fortune under Marlborough; a mighty hunter in Virginia—all these, says Mr. Buchan, were Lincoln''s forebears. Their blood ran in his veins and made him, in James Russell Lowell''s phrase, "the last of the kings."

A Shocking Adventure Novel “I believe everything out of the common. The only thing to distrust is the normal.” ― John Buchan, The 39 Steps John Buchan''s The Thirty-Nine Steps is a fast-paced adventure novel featuring Richard Hannay, a Scottish hero with a knack for getting himself into and out of trouble. The Thirty Nine Steps has been adapted many times, most notably by Alfred Hitchcock. This Xist Classics edition has been professionally formatted for e-readers with a linked table of contents. This eBook also contains a bonus book club leadership guide and discussion questions. We hope you’ll share this book with your friends, neighbors and colleagues and can’t wait to hear what you have to say about it. Xist Publishing is a digital-first publisher. Xist Publishing creates books for the touchscreen generation and is dedicated to helping everyone develop a lifetime love of reading, no matter what form it takes

The Path of the King is a 1921 novel by the Scottish author John Buchan, presented as a loosely-coupled series of short stories. Plot; In a prologue to the novel, three men discuss around a campfire the notion that the ''spark'' of masterful men may be transmitted down from generation to generation, and even though it may smoulder for generations and may seem lost, will reappear and flare up when the time is right. "I saw the younger sons carry the royal blood far down among the people, down even into the kennels of the outcast. Generations follow, oblivious of the high beginnings, but there is that in the stock which is fated to endure. The sons and daughters blunder and sin and perish, but the race goes on, for there is a fierce stuff of life in it. ... Some rags of greatness always cling to it, the dumb faith that sometime and somehow that blood drawn from kings it never knew will be royal again. Though nature is wasteful of material things, there is no waste of spirit. And then after long years there comes, unheralded and unlooked for, the day of the Appointed Time."[1] The novel takes the form of a loosely-coupled collection of short stories presenting a sweeping tapestry of historical episodes, from the Vikings through centuries of Norman, French, Flemish, English, Scottish and American scenes. In the first episode, a Northern prince''s golden "torque" represents the symbol of his royal status. On his death, the gold is remodelled as a ring which is handed down from generation to generation until it is eventually inherited by the mother of Abraham Lincoln. The young Abe, using it as a sinker for his fishing line, loses it in a ''crick'' and is distraught. On her deathbed, Abe''s mother recognises the potential for kingliness in her young son and dies content, realising that the ring is needed no more. In an epilogue to the novel, set many years later, three men stand watching the funeral cortège after Lincoln''s death. "There goes the first American" says one. The young British attaché replies "I dare say you are right, Professor, but I think it is also the last of the Kings.."........ John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir, GCMG, GCVO, CH, PC ( 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 colonial administrator of various colonies in southern Africa. He eventually wrote propaganda for the British war effort in 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, he was appointed Governor General of Canada by King George V on the recommendation of Prime Minister of Canada R. B. Bennett, to replace the Earl of Bessborough. He occupied the post until his death in 1940. Buchan was enthusiastic about literacy and the development of Canadian culture, and he received a state funeral in Canada before his ashes were returned to the United Kingdom. Early life and education: Buchan was born in Perth, Scotland, the first child of John Buchan-a Free Church of Scotland minister-and Helen Jane Buchan. He was brought up in Kirkcaldy, Fife, and spent many summer holidays with his maternal grandparents in Broughton in the Scottish Borders. There he developed a love for walking and for the local scenery and wildlife, both of which are often featured in his novels. The protagonist in several of his books is Sir Edward Leithen, whose name is borrowed from the Leithen Water, a tributary of the River Tweed.....

The Thirty-Nine Steps By John Buchan The Thirty-Nine Steps is an adventure novel by the Scottish author John Buchan. It first appeared as a serial in Blackwood''s Magazine in August and September 1915 before being published in book form in October that year by William Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh. The Thirty-Nine Steps By John Buchan Richard Hannay finds a corpse in his flat and becomes involved in a plot by spies to precipitate war and subvert British naval power. The resourceful victim of a manhunt, he is pursued by both the police and the ruthless conspirators. The Thirty-Nine Steps By John Buchan This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery. The Thirty-Nine Steps By John Buchan In May of 1914, war looms in Europe. Richard Hannay returns home to London after living in Rhodesia. One night his neighbor, an American who claims to be in fear for his life, visits Hannay. The man appears to know of an anarchist plot to destabilize Europe, beginning with a plan to assassinate the Greek Premier, Constantine Karolides, during his forthcoming visit to London. The Thirty-Nine Steps By John Buchan The man, named Franklin P. Scudder, is a freelance spy and reveals that he has faked his own death. Scudder claims to be following a ring of German spies called the Black Stone who are trying to steal British plans for the outbreak of war. Hannay, convinced of his honesty, lets Scudder hide in his flat. Police discover the fake suicide and suspect nothing, but Hannay finds Scudder murdered in his flat a few days later nonetheless. Feeling now part of the plot, Hannay takes up Scudder''s encoded notebook and escapes his apartment by disguising himself as the milkman one day. The Thirty-Nine Steps By John Buchan Hannay takes a train leaving from London to Galloway, in southwest Scotland, believing it sufficiently remote to hide in until the fateful 15th of June (a date noted by Scudder relevant to the anarchist''s plot). Hannay lodges in a shepherd''s cottage and reads in a newspaper that the police are looking for him in Scotland, suspecting him of Scudder''s murder. Hannay boards a local train heading east, but jumps off between stations to confuse his trail. He eventually finds an inn where he stays the night. He tells the innkeeper a modified version of his story, and the man is persuaded to shelter him. While staying at the inn, Hannay cracks the cipher used in Scudder''s codebook. The next day two men arrive at the inn looking for Hannay, but the innkeeper sends them away. When they return later, Hannay steals their car and escapes. The Thirty-Nine Steps By John Buchan By this time, Hannay is being pursued by an airplane, and a policeman in a remote village tries to stop him as he drives through. He decides to stay off the main roads, but not knowing the area, nearly gets into a crash. To avoid it, he ditches the car, which falls off a cliff. The other driver, Harry Bullivant, a local landowner, and prospective politician, takes pity on him after seeing his dirty clothes and takes him home to clean up. When he learns of Hannay''s experiences in South Africa, he invites him to address an election meeting that afternoon. Hannay''s speech impresses Harry (and is far better than Harry''s own), and Hannay feels able to trust him with his story. Harry writes an introductory letter about Hannay to a relation in the Foreign Office to thank him for his speech and help him with the plot. The Thirty-Nine Steps By John Buchan Hannay leaves Harry and tries to hide in the countryside, but is spotted from the airplane. Soon he spots a group of men on the ground searching for him. Miraculously, he meets a road mender out on the moor, and swaps places with him, sending the workman home. His disguise fools his pursuers, who pass him by. On the same road, he encounters an acquaintance from London (whom he hates) named Marmaduke Jolley. He takes his clothes and drives his car several miles away before leaving Jolley. The Thirty-Nine Steps By John Buchan Now back on foot, his pursuers find Hannay, and he runs off. He finds a cottage and enters, desperate for cover, and the occupant excitedly welcomes him. Unfortunately, the man turns out to be one of the enemies, and with his accomplices, he locks Hannay into his storage room. Fortunately, the room in which Hannay is locked is full of bomb-making materials, which he uses to break out of the cottage. Without cover or means to escape cars or the plane, Hannay hides on top of a building until nightfall then runs off. The Thirty-Nine Steps By John Buchan Hannay returns to and retrieves his possessions from the helpful road mender and stays for a few days to recover from the explosion. He departs by train to meet Harry''s relative at the Foreign Office, Sir Walter Bullivant. As they discuss Scudder''s notes, Sir Walter receives a phone call to tell him that Karolides has indeed been assassinated. Sir Walter and his cohort return to London with Hannay, where they clear his name at Scotland Yard and release him, apparently free of involvement in the plot. Hannay feels agitated and unfulfilled; he runs into Marmaduke Jopley again and starts a fight. With the police after him again, he flees to Sir Walter''s home, where he finds him in a meeting with several officials, including the First Sea Lord. While Hannay waits for the meeting to end, the First Sea Lord leaves. They briefly make eye contact and Hannay is certain the man is one of his pursuers in disguise. They call the real First Sea Lord''s home, where a servant informs them he is asleep in bed. The Thirty-Nine Steps By John Buchan Desperate to stop the imposter from escaping with their secrets, Hannay and the officials comb Scudder''s codebook. The reason that the phrase "the thirty-nine steps," along with the date and tidal information (high tide at 10:17 PM) must indicate the location of the escape point for the conspirators. With the help of a coast guardsman, they set off for a quiet middle-class location by the sea. They find an area with several sets of steps, one of them having 39, and an anchored yacht called "Ariadne." They approach the yacht posing as fishermen and discover the officer on board is German. Hannay watches three men in a villa who match the description of his pursuers, but their normal behavior causes him to doubt their involvement. The Thirty-Nine Steps By John Buchan Despite his doubts, he confronts the men. A subtle gesture assures him that they are his pursuers, and his men enter to arrest them. Although one escapes, bound for the boat, Hannay reveals they have already taken the boat, and all three men are arrested. England enters World War I three weeks later, her secrets intact, with Hannay commissioned captain. The Thirty-Nine Steps By John Buchan

In ''The 39 Steps,'' John Buchan weaves a gripping tale of espionage and adventure, reflecting the anxieties of pre-World War I Britain. The novel combines elements of thriller and mystery, characterized by its brisk narrative pace and vibrant prose. Buchan employs a thinly veiled allegory of national identity and the pervasive fears of external threats during an age of burgeoning technological change and political unrest. The protagonist, Richard Hannay, embarks on a perilous journey that underscores themes of innocence lost, courage in the face of adversity, and the fragility of trust, encapsulated in a narrative rich with suspense and vivid imagery. John Buchan, a Scottish author and politician, crafted this seminal work amidst a career steeped in public service and literary accomplishment. His extensive travels and experience as an intelligence officer during World War I informed his perspective on political machinations and human resilience. Buchan''s fascination with adventure, nurtured by his deep appreciation for the Scottish landscape and history, translates into Hannay''s thrilling exploits across a perilous world, offering readers both escapism and reflection. ''The 39 Steps'' remains a quintessential read for lovers of adventure fiction and thrillers. Its deft plotting and nuanced characterization invite readers to engage not only with Hannay''s frantic race against time but also with the larger questions of loyalty and betrayal. Recommended for anyone seeking a timeless narrative that blends literary sophistication with electrifying action.

Mr. Standfast John Buchan - Mr Standfast is the third of five Richard Hannay novels by John Buchan. It is one of two Hannay novels set during the First World War, the other being Greenmantle. The title refers to a character in John Bunyan''s Pilgrim''s Progress, to which there are many other references in the novel. Set in the later years of World War I, 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 agents, and then heads to the Swiss Alps to save Europe from being overwhelmed by the German army.

John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir, GCMG, GCVO, CH, PC 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 colonial administrator of various colonies in southern Africa. He eventually wrote propaganda for the British war effort in the First World War. Buchan was in 1927 elected Member of Parliament for the Combined Scottish Universities, but he spent most of his time on his writing career, notably writing The Thirty-Nine Steps and other adventure fiction. In 1935 he was appointed Governor General of Canada by King George V, on the recommendation of Prime Minister of Canada R. B. Bennett, to replace the Earl of Bessborough. He occupied the post until his death in 1940. Buchan proved to be enthusiastic about literacy, as well as the evolution of Canadian culture, and he received a state funeral in Canada before his ashes were returned to the United Kingdom.

In this, his final adventure, Buchan''s hero Richard Hannay becomes embroiled in one of the most hazardous escapades of his life. Two men are honour bound to help the tormented Valdemar Haraldsen, and a third decides to mastermind the whole affair out of a sheer love of adventure and a dislike of villains. A long-forgotten promise made by Richard Hannay finds him honor-bound to resolve a violent vendetta in which the lives of a young father and his daughter are in danger from unscrupulous and desperate men.

I returned from the City about three o''clock on that May afternoon pretty well disgusted with life. I had been three months in the Old Country, and was fed up with it. If anyone had told me a year ago that I would have been feeling like that I should have laughed at him; but there was the fact. The weather made me liverish, the talk of the ordinary Englishman made me sick. I couldn''t get enough exercise, and the amusements of London seemed as flat as soda-water that has been standing in the sun. ''Richard Hannay,'' I kept telling myself, ''you have got into the wrong ditch, my friend, and you had better climb out.'' It made me bite my lips to think of the plans I had been building up those last years in Bulawayo. I had got my pile—not one of the big ones, but good enough for me; and I had figured out all kinds of ways of enjoying myself. My father had brought me out from Scotland at the age of six, and I had never been home since; so England was a sort of Arabian Nights to me, and I counted on stopping there for the rest of my days.

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 World War I. 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 enthusiastic about literacy and the development of Canadian culture, and he received a state funeral in Canada before his ashes were returned to the United Kingdom Buchan was born in Perth, Scotland, the first child of John Buchan-a Free Church of Scotland minister-and Helen Jane Buchan. He was brought up in Kirkcaldy, Fife, and spent many summer holidays with his maternal grandparents in Broughton in the Scottish Borders. There he developed a love for walking and for the local scenery and wildlife, both of which are often featured in his novels. The protagonist in several of his books is Sir Edward Leithe

The cause of it was a young man who stood disconsolately bya settle a little way out of the lantern''s glow. The dust of thewhite roads lay on his bodyarmour and coated the scabbard ofhis great sword. He played nervously with the plume of a helmetwhich lay on the settle, and lifted his face now and then toprotest a word. It was an honest face, ruddy with wind and sunand thatched with hair which his mislikers called red but hisfriends golden.The girl seemed to have had her say. She turned wearilyaside, and drew the chain between her young lips with a gestureof despair.We are delighted to publish this classic book as part of our extensive Classic Library collection. Many of the books in our collection have been out of print for decades, and therefore have not been accessible to the general public. The aim of our publishing program is to facilitate rapid access to this vast reservoir of literature, and our view is that this is a significant literary work, which deserves to be brought back into print after many decades. The contents of the vast majority of titles in the Classic Library have been scanned from the original works. To ensure a high quality product, each title has been meticulously hand curated by our staff. Our philosophy has been guided by a desire to provide the reader with a book that is as close as possible to ownership of the original work. We hope that you will enjoy this wonderful classic work, and that for you it becomes an enriching experience.

The Path of the King is a 1921 novel by the Scottish author John Buchan, presented as a loosely-coupled series of short stories.

The Thirty-Nine Steps is an adventure novel by the Scottish author John Buchan. It first appeared as a serial in Blackwood''s Magazine in August and September 1915 before being published in book form in October that year by William Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh.[1] It is the first of five novels featuring Richard Hannay, an all-action hero with a stiff upper lip and a miraculous knack for getting himself out of sticky situations.

The Thirty Nine Steps is an adventure novel by the Scottish author John Buchan. It first appeared as a serial in Blackwood''s Magazine in August and September 1915 before being published in book form in October that year by William Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh. It is the first of the five novels featuring Richard Hannay, an all-action hero with a stiff upper lip and a miraculous knack for getting himself out of sticky situations.

The Path of the King is a 1921 novel by the Scottish author John Buchan, presented as a loosely coupled series of short stories.

John Buchan was a Scottish politician, historian, and writer. Buchan served as the Governor General of Canada and he was also noted for writing propaganda for the British army during World War I. Buchan is best remembered now for being a prolific author and his most famous work, The Thirty-Nine Steps, has been adapted into film and recently was the basis of a popular British television show. The Thirty-Nine Steps, published in 1915, is the first novel featuring the legendary character Richard Hannay. The book is set just before the outbreak of World War I and centers around Hannay as he learns of a plot to destabilize Europe. Greenmantle, published in 1916, is the sequel novel to The Thirty-Nine Steps. The book is set during World War I and centers around Hannay as he travels to the Middle East to investigate a religious uprising.

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 World War I. 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 enthusiastic about literacy and the development of Canadian culture, and he received a state funeral in Canada before his ashes were returned to the United Kingdom Buchan was born in Perth, Scotland, the first child of John Buchan-a Free Church of Scotland minister-and Helen Jane Buchan. He was brought up in Kirkcaldy, Fife, and spent many summer holidays with his maternal grandparents in Broughton in the Scottish Borders. There he developed a love for walking and for the local scenery and wildlife, both of which are often featured in his novels. The protagonist in several of his books is Sir Edward Leithen, whose name is borrowed from the Leithen Water, a tributary of the River Tweed.

Greenmantle is the second of five Richard Hannay novels by John Buchan, first published in 1916 by Hodder & Stoughton, London. It is one of two Hannay novels set during the First World War, the other being Mr Standfast (1919); Hannay''s first and best-known adventure, The Thirty-Nine Steps (1915), is set in the period immediately before the war started. Excerpted from Greenmantle on Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. To Caroline Grosvenor During the past year, in the intervals of an active life, I have amused myself with constructing this tale. It has been scribbled in every kind of odd place and moment-in England and abroad, during long journeys, in half-hours between graver tasks; and it bears, I fear, the mark of its gipsy begetting. But it has amused me to write, and I shall be well repaid if it amuses you-and a few others-to read. Let no man or woman call its events improbable. The war has driven that word from our vocabulary, and melodrama has become the prosiest realism. Things unimagined before happen daily to our friends by sea and land. The one chance in a thousand is habitually taken, and as often as not succeeds. Coincidence, like some new Briareus, stretches a hundred long arms hourly across the earth. Some day, when the full history is written-sober history with ample documents-the poor romancer will give up business and fall to reading Miss Austen in a hermitage. The characters of the tale, if you think hard, you will recall. Sandy you know well. That great spirit was last heard of at Basra, where he occupies the post that once was Harry Bullivant''s. Richard Hannay is where he longed to be, commanding his battalion on the ugliest bit of front in the West. Mr John S. Blenkiron, full of honour and wholly cured of dyspepsia, has returned to the States, after vainly endeavouring to take Peter with him. As for Peter, he has attained the height of his ambition. He has shaved his beard and joined the Flying Corps. John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir, was a Scottish novelist, historian and Unionist politician who served as Governor General of Canada, the 15th since Canadian Confederation. His best known work is arguably The Thirty-nine Steps (1915) Buchan''s 100 works include nearly thirty novels, seven collections of short stories, and biographies of Sir Walter Scott, Caesar Augustus, and Oliver Cromwell. Buchan was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his biography of the Marquess of Montrose, but the most famous of his books were the spy thrillers, and it is for these that he is now best remembered

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: part one: Dick Hannay, under forty and already a successful Brigadier-General with good prospects of advancement, is called out of uniform by his old comrade, spymaster Sir Walter Bullivant, and sent to Fosse Manor in the Cotswolds to receive further instructions. He must pose as a South African, an objector to the war, and once more takes on the name Cornelius Brand (an Anglicisation of the name he had used on his adventures in Germany in Greenmantle). He is upset by the idea of such a pose, but comforted by thoughts of his friend Peter Pienaar, briefly a successful airman and now a prisoner in Germany, and by the beauty of the Cotswold countryside. At Fosse, he meets two middle-aged spinsters, their cousin Launcelot Wake, a conscientious objector, and their niece Mary Lamington, a girl whose prettiness had struck Hannay earlier, while visiting a shell-shocked friend in the hospital where she works. It emerges that she is his contact, but she can tell him little more than that he must immerse himself in the world of pacifists and objectors, picking up "atmosphere." She gives him a label to paste inside his watch, an address where he will be staying, and advises him to pick up a copy of Pilgrim''s Progress. Hannay heads to Biggleswick, a small town full of artists and writers. He buries himself in their pacifist community, attending meetings at a local hall, and meets Moxon Ivery, a local bigwig who seems vaguely familiar; he also sees Mary about the place. He hears of his old comrade John Blenkiron, and one day the American appears at one of the town''s meetings; he passes a message to Hannay, arranging to meet in London. Blenkiron reveals that he has been hard at work for some time, around the world and undercover around England, on the track of a huge network of German spies and agents, with their head somewhere in Britain, leaking vital information to the enemy. He believes Ivery to be the spider at the centre of the web, but cannot prove it, and wants to use Ivery to feed misinformation to the Germans. He tells Hannay to try and head for Scotland and an American called Gresson, as he believes the information is being sent that way. Hannay goes to Glasgow, and contacts a trade union man named Amos, through whom he moves into Gresson''s circles. He speaks at a meeting which descends into violence, and finds himself in at Gresson''s side in a street fight. He saves the day, but makes an enemy of a big Fusilier named Geordie Hamilton. He later learns that Gresson makes regular boat trips up the coast, and plans to tag along........... John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir, GCMG, GCVO, CH, PC ( 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................

Hanney, an expatriated Scot, returns from a long stay in South Africa to his flat in London. One night he is buttonholed by an American who appears to know of an anarchist plot to destabilize Europe, and claims to be in fear for his life. Hannay lets the American hide in his flat, and returns later to find that another man has been found shot dead in the same building, apparently a suicide. Four days later Hannay finds the American stabbed to death...