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. 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 agents, and then heads to the Swiss Alps to save Europe from being overwhelmed by the German army.
John Buchan (1st Baron Tweedsmuir) was a Scottish author, historian, and Unionist politician who lived from 26 August 1875 to 11 February 1940. Buchan was chosen by King George V to succeed the Earl of Bessborough as Governor General of Canada in 1935. He held the position until his passing in 1940. He blended his successful writing career as a thriller, historical fiction, historian, and biographer with a concurrent career in public service. He was Canada's governor general at the time of his death.Buchan received his education at Oxford and Glasgow Universities. He had a brief legal career before moving to South Africa in 1902, where he helped in the nation's post-Boer War reconstruction. In his writing, he frequently returns to his love of South Africa. Buchan served as the British Government's Director of Information during World War One. He produced a 24 book history of the conflict, which was eventually abridged. He also produced several excellent action books, such as Richard Hannay's spy-catching exploits. Dickson McCunn and Edward Leithen are two further notable characters developed by Buchan.
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