Description: In 1925, John Buchan published his second most famous novel, John Macnab; three high-flying men - a barrister, a cabinet minister and a banker - are suffering from boredom. This novel is a light interlude within the Leithen Stories series - an evocative look at the hunting, shooting and fishing lifestyle in Highland Scotland.
Brief description: John Buchan was a Scottish diplomat, barrister, journalist, historian, poet and novelist. He published nearly 30 novels and seven collections of short stories. He was born in Perth, an eldest son, and studied at Glasgow and Oxford. In 1901 he became a barrister of the Middle Temple and a private secretary to the High Commissioner for South Africa. In 1907 he married Susan Charlotte Grosvenor and they subsequently had four children. After spells as a war correspondent, Lloyd George's Director of Information and Conservative MP, Buchan moved to Canada in 1935. He served as Governor General there until his death in 1940. Hew Strachan is Chichele Professor of the History of War at the University of Oxford; his research interests include military history from the 18th century to date, including contemporary strategic studies, but with particular interest in the First World War and in the history of the British Army.
Review Quotes: Perhaps [Buchan's] peculiarly Scottish combination of Romanticism and Calvinism - daring living and high thinking - is due to return to fashion'-- "The Independent Magazine"