John Buchan

Introduced by Robert Hutchinson.

John Buchan skilfully weaves the story of young clerk Peter Pentecost, who has a claim to the throne, and a tale of intrigue against King Henry VIII, where ’under the blanket of the dark all men are alike and all are nameless’.     

Introduced by Robin Hardy.

The Dancing Floor is one of Buchan’s most unusual and surprising tales. His characters, including the familiar Leithen who features in all four novels of the series, find themselves in a religious war of sorts in Greece. His descriptions of the island setting, the flora and fauna are magical, but terrible things are about to happen ...

Introduced by Douglas Hurd.

When Anthony Lammas, minister of the Kirk and Professor of Logic at St Andrews University, leaves his home town for London on business, he little imagines that within two days he will be deeply entangled in a web of mystery and intrigue.

Introduced by Allan Massie.

Richard Hannay is tasked to investigate rumours of an uprising in the Muslim world and takes off on a hair-raising journey through German-occupied Europe to meet up with his old friend Sandy Arbuthnot in Constantinople, where they must thwart the Germans’ plans to use religion to help them win the war.

Introduced by Andrew Lownie.

The fifth, last and most unusual of the Hannay books, The Island of Sheep is part thriller and part meditation on nature. Accompanied by two friends Hannay sets out to protect the family by finishing a feud that goes back thirty years to a hilltop in Rhodesia.

With an introduction by Tam Dalyell.

The rivalry of two cousins results in treachery, betrayal and a desperate struggle for survival.

Introduced by Andrew Greig.

This novel is a light interlude within the Leithen Stories series – an evocative look at the hunting, shooting and fishing lifestyle in Highland Scotland.

Introduced by James Robertson.

Once described as ‘a tale of adventure and betrayal on the long bloody road to Culloden Moor’, A Lost Lady of Old Years is set in Scotland during the Rebellion of ’45.

With an introduction by Stuart Kelly.

Regarded by many critics as one of the finest historical novels ever written, Midwinter tells the tale of Alastair Maclean, confidant of Prince Charles Edward Stuart, who embarks on a secret mission to raise support for the Jacobite cause in the west of England.     

Introduced by Hew Strachan, Mr Standfast is the third of five Richard Hannay thrillers.

Brigadier-General Richard Hannay is recalled from active service on the Western Front and tasked with a secret mission to catch a dangerous German agent who is at large in Britain.

Introduced by Stella Rimington.

Featuring prosperous Scots lawyer and MP Sir Edward Leithen - often considered John Buchan's alter ego - The Power-House is a classic thriller!

Introduced by Trevor Royle.

South Africa, 1900. After his father dies, nineteen-year-old David Crawfurd is sent off to South Africa to earn his living as a storekeeper in the back of beyond. A strange encounter on the journey suggests that dark deeds and treacherous intrigues are afoot - all bound up with the mysterious primeval kingdom of Prester John.

Introduced by James Buchan.

Sick Heart River is both John Buchan’s most powerful novel and his last, with perhaps the most autobiographical of his characters.    

Introduced by Stuart Kelly, this is the first of the five Hannay novels.

Recently returned from South Africa, adventurer Richard Hannay is bored with life, but after a chance encounter with an American who informs him of an assassination plot and is then promptly murdered in Hannay’s London flat, he becomes the obvious suspect and is forced to go on the run.

Introduced by Christopher Hitchens, this is the fourth of the five Richard Hannay novels.

Hannay is living peacefully in the Cotswolds with his wife family until three separate visitors tell him of three children being held hostage by a secret kidnapper.

Introduced by Allan Massie.

Buchan’s favourite of all his novels, Witch Wood deals with the hypocrisy that can lie beneath god-fearing respectability. The book is set in the terrifying times of the first half of the seventeenth century when the Church of Scotland unleashed a wave of cruelty and intolerance. Minister Sempill witnesses devil worship in the ’Witch Wood’ and is persecuted. With an introduction by Allan Massie.