The Leithen Stories
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Sir Edward Leithen, lawyer, politician, sportsman and occasional philosopher, was probably the most autobiographical of John Buchan's heroes. This collection of four novels, written over a span of thirty years, shows Leithen/Buchan in all his moodsโfrom the urban menace of The Power-House in which "the thin line between civilization and barbarism" runs through London's West End; to the Highland exhilaration of John Macnab; the twists and turns of The Dancing Floor; and Sick Heart River, where Leithen meets death and redemption in the wastes of Canada.
Buchan's learning and practical experience took him far beyond the range of the "clubland hero" and these tales lead us to the heart of one of Scotland's most fascinating and enigmatic writers.
"John Buchan was the first to realize the enormous dramatic value of adventure in familiar surroundings happening to unadventurous men."โGraham Greene
"Leithen is his most autobiographical [character] . . . It's Leithen who stars in The Power-House (serialized in 1913), the novel that kicked off Buchan's run of 'shockers'โas he called his thrillers and adventure stories. And it is Leithen who brings it to a close in Sick Heart River (1941). If Hannay is the man of empire, all blunt action and luck brought on by confidence, Leithen is the man of the capital, a power broker bent on doing good but also on escaping to the country at week's end."โ The Wall Street Journal
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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.
