John Buchan

John Bunyan ( baptised on November 30, 1628 - August 31, 1688) was an English writer and Puritan preacher best remembered as the author of the Christian allegory The Pilgrim's Progress. In addition to The Pilgrim's Progress, Bunyan wrote nearly sixty titles, many of them expanded sermons. Bunyan came from the village of Elstow, near Bedford. He had some schooling and at the age of sixteen joined the Parliamentary army during the first stage of the English Civil War. After three years in the army he returned to Elstow and took up the trade of tinker, which he had learned from his father. He became interested in religion after his marriage, attending first the parish church and then joining the Bedford Meeting, a nonconformist group in Bedford, and becoming a preacher. After the restoration of the monarch, when the freedom of nonconformists was curtailed, Bunyan was arrested and spent the next twelve years in jail as he refused to give up preaching. During this time he wrote a spiritual autobiography, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, and began work on his most famous book, The Pilgrim's Progress, which was not published until some years after his release.

The riveting adventure classic by John Buchan pairs elements of espionage mystery with a thrilling and fast-paced narrative. Published in 1915 as public interest in espionage and spy adventures grew, The Thirty Nine Steps brought the fast-paced adventures of Richard Hannay to an eager audience. Caught up in a geopolitical plot that is transpiring around Europe after two men - one a freelance spy - are murdered in his apartment block, Hannay enters into the murkily adventurous world of espionage in order to save multiple political figures from assassination. Ahead of its time, The Thirty Nine Steps pioneered a dialogue rich, fantastical style of writing which would come to typify adventure tales and thrillers. It is frequently placed in the 'man-on-the-run' sub-genre, for portraying Hannay simultaneously as a wanted fugitive, and a potential saviour with important knowledge that may alter the course of Europe's entire politics.

The riveting adventure classic by John Buchan pairs elements of espionage mystery with a thrilling and fast-paced narrative. Published in 1915 as public interest in espionage and spy adventures grew, The Thirty Nine Steps brought the fast-paced adventures of Richard Hannay to an eager audience. Caught up in a geopolitical plot that is transpiring around Europe after two men - one a freelance spy - are murdered in his apartment block, Hannay enters into the murkily adventurous world of espionage in order to save multiple political figures from assassination. Ahead of its time, The Thirty Nine Steps pioneered a dialogue rich, fantastical style of writing which would come to typify adventure tales and thrillers. It is frequently placed in the 'man-on-the-run' sub-genre, for portraying Hannay simultaneously as a wanted fugitive, and a potential saviour with important knowledge that may alter the course of Europe's entire politics.

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. 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.

We were at Glenaicill-six of us-for the duck-shooting, when Leithen told us this story. Since five in the morning we had been out on the skerries, and had been blown home by a wind which threatened to root the house and its wind-blown woods from their precarious lodgment on the hill. A vast nondescript meal, luncheon and dinner in one, had occupied us till the last daylight departed, and we settled ourselves in the smoking-room for a sleepy evening of talk and tobacco. Conversation, I remember, turned on some of Jim's trophies which grinned at us from the firelit walls, and we began to spin hunting yarns. Then Hoppy Bynge, who was killed next year on the Bramaputra, told us some queer things about his doings in New Guinea, where he tried to climb Carstensz, and lived for six months in mud. Jim said he couldn't abide mud- anything was better than a country where your boots rotted. (He was to get enough of it last winter in the Ypres Salient.) You know how one tale begets another, and soon the whole place hummed with odd recollections, for five of us had been a good deal about the world.

Dickson McCunn, a respectable, newly retired grocer of romantic heart, plans a modest walking holiday in the hills of south-west Scotland. He meets a young English poet and, contrary to his better sense, finds himself in the thick of a plot involving the kidnapping of a Russian princess, who is held prisoner in the rambling mansion, Huntingtower. This modern fairy-tale is also a gripping adventure story, and in it Buchan introduces some of his best-loved characters, including the Gorbals Die-Hards, who reappear in later novels. He also paints a remarkable picture of a man rejuvenated by joining much younger comrades in a challenging and often dangerous fight against tyranny and fear. 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.

In this fast-paced spy thriller, a self-described "ordinary fellow" stumbles upon a plot involving not only espionage and murder but also the future of Britain itself. Richard Hannay arrives in London on the eve of World War I, where he encounters an American agent seeking help in preventing a political assassination. Before long, Hannay finds himself in possession of a little black book that holds the key to the conspiracy-and on the run from both the police and members of a mysterious organization that will stop at nothing to keep their secrets hidden.

Foxton Readers are a series of carefully graded books aimed at ESL / EAL learners of beginner to advanced levels. They are based on a comprehensive grammar and vocabulary framework to match each ability level and to ensure each learner progresses. They are not only suitable for ESL / EAL learners but can also be used with native speakers of primary and secondary school age.

November 1915. Richard Hannay is tasked to undertake a top-secret mission to investigate rumours of a plot to create a holy war throughout the Muslim world and draw troops and resources from the Western Front. Hannay must journey to Constantinople through war-torn Europe, recruiting three loyal friends – Peter Pienaar, John S Blenkiron and Sandy Arbuthnot – to help him as he unravels coded messages, escapes murderous mobs and tracks down the mysterious prophet who holds the key to the plot, known as ‘Greenmantle’. Greenmantle is a gripping reflection on the power of political Islam (to the extent that it was pulled from Radio 4’s schedule at the time of the 7 July bombings) and demonstrates Buchan’s exemplary storytelling ability and political insight. With an introduction by Allan Massie.

An anonymous young man’s life is about to be changed, as could the course of history. It is 1536 and powerful men reveal to Peter Pentecost that it is he, and not the tyrannical Henry VIII, who should be on the throne of England. Can they persuade him to risk everything in a treasonable rebellion against the throne? In the hands of the master thriller writer, John Buchan, the dark, dangerous days of Tudor England come alive as never before. With an introduction by Robert Hutchinson. This edition is authorised by the John Buchan Society.