Status
Available
Call number
Series
Genres
Collection
Publication
Oxford Univ Press (1995), Paperback, 330 pages
Description
Hannay is married to Mary and living peacefully in the Cotswolds, when he receives a request to help solve the mysterious kidnapping of the children of three prominent people. Given nothing to go on but a few mysterious clues, Hannay, assisted by friends like Sandy Arbuthnot, must track down the dastardly villains behind the plot before it's too late...
User reviews
LibraryThing member otterley
Complete with an introduction by Christopher Hitchings that firmly places this in the 'guilty pleasure' category, Buchan digs out Richard Hannay from his comfortable retreat in the country to - yet again - be involved in devious global plots. Hannay's utterly unimpressionable nature turns out to be
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a major advantage as he proves impervious to the most dastardly of attempts to influence and overpower him, while at the same time - and with help from his old friends and plucky spouse - solving devilishly cunning tricks and ruses. I agree with Hitch - it's a lot of fun... Show Less
LibraryThing member Daftboy1
Sorry but I know this book is a classic and I respect that this was written in 1924/25 but this book wasnt for me.
Found it confusing the way it keeps jumping from how the hero Dick Hannay unravels the clues.
It was to far fetched and full of posh upper class twits for me.
Probably in the day this
Found it confusing the way it keeps jumping from how the hero Dick Hannay unravels the clues.
It was to far fetched and full of posh upper class twits for me.
Probably in the day this
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book was really cutting edge and exciting but its so dated now. Show Less
LibraryThing member Figgles
More brave men and strong women thwarting a plot for world domination. Richard Hannay, Sandy Arbuthnot and Archie Roylance all feature. A love of wild places overlays all.
LibraryThing member antiquary
This is the fourth in the RIchard Hannay series. It is after World War 1, and Richard Hannay is asked to hep find three people who have been kidnapped as part of a plot having a links t the *rish nationalist movement (which Buchan evidently disliked). THe villain turns out to be a man who had been
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a friend of his and a member of the Runagates Club. I wonder if he is influenced by people like Sir Roger Casement and Erskine Childers who had very much part of that English heroic caste until they joined the Irish revolution. Show Less
LibraryThing member leslie.98
While a few aspects of this 4th installment in the Richard Hannay series show their age (this was first published in 1924), most of it is surprisingly still relevant. The use of propaganda to get fanatics or troubled youngsters to stir up trouble is something we can see today.
The only thing that
The only thing that
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really holds me back from a 5 star rating is the abruptness of the ending. I would have liked one or two more pages although in reality, there was nothing more that needed to be said. Show Less
LibraryThing member trishrobertsmiller
I read this many years ago, but this time saw all the easy racism, the false narratives of WWI that enabled appeasement. From the perspective of wanting to understand why the Brits engaged in appeasement, this is a perfect book.
LibraryThing member atimco
"Dick, have you ever considered what diabolical weapon that can be—using all the channels of modern publicity to poison and warp men's minds? It is the most dangerous thing on earth. You can use it cleanly—as I think on the whole we did during the War—but you can also use it to establish the
"He said that the great offensives of the future would be psychological, and he thought the Governments should get busy about it and prepare their defence...He considered that the most deadly weapon in the world was the power of mass-persuasion, and he wanted to meet it at the source, by getting at the mass-persuader."
This remarkably prescient book was published in 1924, but the author seemed to have a direct line on today. Sir Richard Hannay believes he has retired from service to his country, only to be pulled back in by a most desperate case. People seem to agree that this is the best of the Hannay novels and while I haven't yet read them all, it's certainly my favorite so far. Despite the highly technical climax where Hannay is scaling cliffs and outwitting his enemy with his woodcraft, I found this a gripping spy-thriller. Yes, it has its share of politically incorrect references and language, and your sensitivity to that content may vary. But if you can get past that, there's a fine adventure here.
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most damnable lies. Happily in the long run it defeats itself, but only after it has sown the world with mischief.""He said that the great offensives of the future would be psychological, and he thought the Governments should get busy about it and prepare their defence...He considered that the most deadly weapon in the world was the power of mass-persuasion, and he wanted to meet it at the source, by getting at the mass-persuader."
This remarkably prescient book was published in 1924, but the author seemed to have a direct line on today. Sir Richard Hannay believes he has retired from service to his country, only to be pulled back in by a most desperate case. People seem to agree that this is the best of the Hannay novels and while I haven't yet read them all, it's certainly my favorite so far. Despite the highly technical climax where Hannay is scaling cliffs and outwitting his enemy with his woodcraft, I found this a gripping spy-thriller. Yes, it has its share of politically incorrect references and language, and your sensitivity to that content may vary. But if you can get past that, there's a fine adventure here.
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Subjects
Language
Original publication date
1924
Physical description
328 p.; 8 inches
ISBN
0192824198 / 9780192824196