Beyond the Thirty-Nine Steps

Reviews

[An] outstanding biography ... Though factual, it reads like a big, rambling Victorian novel, and takes you, as novels do, into other people’s lives Page-turning, buccaneering stuff Apart from Buchan’s relentless work ethic, what shines forth from these pages is his generosity of spirit … Ursula Buchan shows a similar generosity of spirit in this wonderfully fluent biography Excellent … [Ursula Buchan] gives us a strong sense of both the man and his milieu John Buchan was a writer of considerable significance but he was also a man who led a remarkable public life. This magnificent biography leads us through that life with great style and understanding Drawing on recently discovered family documents, this fascinating biography grants us the fullest picture of Buchan and his public and private life that we have ever had. Perhaps it will inspire some overdue screen adaptations of the ‘rollicking adventure stories’ of this most visual of novelists The great strength of this book is to make Buchan not just the writer of “shockers”, but a man whose influence helped change government policy … Ursula Buchan has done an admirable piece of work … She rightly puts his faith at the centre of the book and this lays a line towards a reimagination of Buchan Buchan’s thrillers exploited contemporary events (and anxieties) which made them extensions of his political life. Both are integral to this excellent book in which Ursula Buchan has balanced her grandfather’s public and literary achievements with his family life and internal tensions. He emerges as a thoroughly decent man and she as a brilliant biographer [An] exemplary, diligent biography Expand reviews