The Courts of the Morning

Richard Hannay #6

by John Buchan

South America is the setting for this adventure from the author of The Thirty-nine Steps. When Archie and Janet Roylance decide to travel to the Gran Seco to see its copper mines they find themselves caught up in dreadful danger; rebels have seized the city. Janet is taken hostage in the middle of the night and it is up to the dashing Don Luis de Marzaniga to aid her rescue.

Genres: Fiction, Adventure, Classics, Thriller, British Literature, Audiobook, 20th Century

424 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1929

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

John Buchan was a Scottish novelist, historian, and Unionist politician who served as Governor General of Canada, the 15th since Canadian Confederation.
As a youth, Buchan began writing poetry and prose, fiction and non-fiction, publishing his first novel in 1895 and ultimately writing over a hundred books of which the best known is The Thirty-Nine Steps. After attending Glasgow and Oxford universities, he practised as a barrister. In 1901, he served as a private secretary to Lord Milner in southern Africa towards the end of the Boer War. He returned to England in 1903, continued as a barrister and journalist. He left the Bar when he joined Thomas Nelson and Sons publishers in 1907. During the First World War, he was, among other activities, Director of Information in 1917 and later Head of Intelligence at the newly-formed Ministry of Information. He was elected Member of Parliament for the Combined Scottish Universities in 1927.
In 1935, King George V, on the advice of Canadian Prime Minister R. B. Bennett, appointed Buchan to succeed the Earl of Bessborough as Governor General of Canada and two months later raised him to the peerage as 1st Baron Tweedsmuir. He occupied the post until his death in 1940. Buchan promoted Canadian unity and helped strengthen the sovereignty of Canada constitutionally and culturally. He received a state funeral in Canada before his ashes were returned to the United Kingdom.

Reviews

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Courts of the Morning sees the return of several characters from earlier books, including Sandy Arbuthnot (now Lord Clanroyden), John S Blenkiron, Archie Roylance and Geordie Hamilton. Richard Hannay (now Sir Richard) appears briefly to introduce the story which is set mainly in the fictional South American country of Olifa.

Olifa is an apparently prosperous and peaceful country whose capital, Olifa City, seems to offer the perfect location for the honeymoon of Sir Archie Roylance and wife Janet. But not everything is as it seems. As one character comments, "Olifa is a mask. You have not seen her face". Behind the scenes, sinister forces are at work in the province of Gran Seco, a copper-mining district in the north of the country. The lucrative mining concern is the personal fiefdom of Gran Seco's governor, Castor, who has surrounded himself with a bodyguard of nefarious individuals, ruthlessly exploited the indigenous Indian population and found a way to control the will of the so-called Conquistadors in order that they are prepared to do his bidding. "He [Castor] rules the Gran Seco and its officials are altogether his creation. And since he rules the Gran Seco, he rules Olifa."

Castor represents an example of the classic Buchan villain: charming, intelligent but utterly without morals. He also embodies dangers Buchan foresaw that now seem remarkably prescient. As Sandy observes, "...the world today is stuffed with megalomania. Megalomania in politics, megalomania in business, megalomania in art - there are many kinds. You have the man who wants to be a dictator in his own country, you have the man who wants to corner a dozen great businesses and control the finance of half the world, you have the man who wants to break down the historic rules of art and be a law to himself. The motive is the same in every case - rootlessness, an unbalanced consciousness of ability, and an overweening pride."

The main part of the book involves Sandy adopting his customary range of disguises and aliases in order to foil Castor's plans by leading a popular revolt. Aided by Archie, Janet and local revolutionary leader, Luis de Marzaniga, Castor is kidnapped and taken to the rebels' mountain base, the Courts of the Morning of the title. At times, there is a little too much detail about the mechanics of the revolt however there are also sections of page-turning suspense as characters make daring escapes from seemingly certain death.

Buchan never visited South America so the descriptions of the landscape of Olifa probably draw on his memories of South Africa. At times, the countryside he depicts also resembles the glens and mountains of Scotland that he knew so well.

The Courts of the Morning displays many of the storytelling skills for which Buchan is renowned but, for me, the book gets a little too bogged down in detail at times. The remarkable transformation in one character (or as Sandy describes it 'a try at saving your soul') that occurs in the final part of the book some may find hopeful but others may find unrealistic.

[Julian Worker · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is set in South America in the mythical country of Olifa in the 1920s.

The book contains characters from other books of Buchan's including Archie Roylance, Sandy Arbuthnot, and John Blenkiron.

When Archie Roylance arrives in Olifa on a delayed honeymoon with his wife Janet, he soon senses there's something going on as there are many mysterious happenings. As you might expect for a Buchan novel there's trouble brewing in part of Olifa called Gran Seco. An insurrection is taking place which pitches the army of Olifa against the troublemakers. Gran Seco has many copper mines and it transpires the governor has ordered the miners to be drugged to keep them from complaining about their working conditions.

The reason I gave this book three stars is that it is very complex narratively as it's written from multiple 'points of view' and this can be difficult to follow on occasions.

The writing of the Courts of the Morning owes much to Buchan's friendship with TE Lawrence and to his own experiences of the Boer War. Buchan never visited South America himself but you wouldn't know it from reading the book.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still just as exciting when reread for about the 9th time!

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Courts of the Morning by John Buchan is technically a Richard Hannay adventure but, in fact, he plays only a minor part in this story. Basically he introduces the main character, his friend, Sandy Arbuthnot. The story starts in the Scottish highlands and then follows another friend, Archie Roylance and his wife Janet, as they visit a South American country, Olifa. In some ways they have been hunting Sandy who disappeared a year or so ago.

The majority of this story takes place in Olifa, an imaginary South American country. It's a difficult place to describe; basically a relatively wealthy country of two parts; Olifa the main province of the government and the wealthier class & Gran Seco, a province run by the Governador, with mines that fuel Olifa's economy. The Gobernador uses drugs to control the native people who work in the mines and also his Conquistadors and Body Guards. As I understood it, this drug can kill if they stop using it. It's not all that well explained though.

Sandy Arbuthnot and an American friend, Blenkiron, have been hiding out in Olifa and establishing a resistance organization. This involves kidnapping El Gobernador and starting a war between the Gran Seco and Olifa provinces. Even there, the aim is unclear (blame me if it is clear and I've misunderstood it) Archie and Janet get involved as does Blenkiron's niece, Barbara. The main part of the story is the struggle, the strategy, the guerrilla war, the interactions between El Gobernador and the resistance. They seem to hope that by him alone with the rebels that they can change his mind and let him see the importance of their battle for the country.

In its way, it's an interesting tale. It moves along at a slow pace but gradually as we get to the crisis, things begin to pick up and there is more and more action. I liked that even though the story is about Sandy Arbuthnot, he seems to play almost a secondary role, as the story at many times revolves around Janet and Barbara and their discussions with El Gobernador.

The more I focused on the story, the more I enjoyed it. I will say that I did find it easy to put down to read other books but it did grow on my and it's worth the effort to persevere with it. I enjoy Buchan's stories and this was a nice good-bye to Richard Hannay. (3.5 stars)

[MT · Rating 3 out of 5]

I first picked up Buchan's Greenmantle through an article on the web called '10 most esoteric Archer references' or something. Mallory was reading it just before she shoots Archer I think.

With a bit of research it looked to be a pretty good read, and it was. This was backed up with The 39 Steps, another excellent read, and one I think Hitchens wrote about (in Arguably). Back from the time when the British were actually badass, crying how-de-do and kicking Fritz in the pants. Charming tales of espionage and faraway places, what?

The Courts of the Morning follows a British honeymooning couple that decide to instigate a coup in some South American country. See what I mean? Now they just go to Spain for the weekend on an Easyjet special, get sunburnt, take nude photographs of each other on their phones, and come home with a new paella dish they'll never use.

Buchan is pretty gay for the Boer war and anything Saffer. Loves the idea of mounted infantry. As a tale of irregular cavalry against a more modern force, it plays out pretty well. Buchan has that early 1900's contempt for all things modern (at the time) in warfare, like tanks, which I disagree with. Can't ride a horse through a native's house.

There's villainous chaps by the bucketloads too. You better believe he throws in dudes with scars on their faces. French ace pilots from the War, who faked his own death years ago. That's what I call a crowdpleaser, Buchan.

The honeymooning wife is set up as a dime, a real dish, back when British ladies supported their husband in all sorts of activities with nary a word of dissent. I don't know, if she's so tidy I don't know why homeboy didn't take her somewhere properly debauched to really break in the marriage. Soundproof walls are a must on a honeymoon, and they're few and far between in a mobile command post. Although credit to her; she friendzones the villain about halfway through the book like a trooper.

I'd read Buchan before I gave Fleming a go. Comparing the two, you can see where the British thriller took from crime writers like Chandler later on. And Fleming makes it sexy too. All you get from Buchan is a soggy line or two about how she was in his arms one day in the highlands or something. And Buchan doesn't include an itemised list of products and accessories that a man must own before he can call himself a man, which is downright annoying when I want to recreate the Boer MI look.

Also, sporadic use of 'lunch' as a verb, as in, 'they all went lunching.' And nobody gets dressed, they complete their toilet. So definitely a book better read than those modern army novels where the man is just an action figure with a lavishly described kit of weapons that he just has use to shoot somebody in the face eight times.

[Kailey (Luminous Libro) · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this spin-off of the Richard Hannay series, we follow Hannay's friend, Sandy Arbuthnot. Hannay himself only has a small part at the beginning where he sort of introduces the story, and Sandy takes it from there. Sandy runs into Archie Roylance and Janet vacationing on their honeymoon in South America. They join with old General Blenkiron in a small South American country to stop a business tycoon from staging a coup that could make political trouble all over the world. In the middle of a miner's rebellion and all-out war with the government, Sandy meets the lovely Barbara. But there is no time for love when you have just kidnapped the most dangerous man in South America and are holding him hostage at a hideout in the jungle called "The Courts of the Morning".

I loved this last adventure in the series! I really love the writing style that keeps you on the edge of your seat. The plot keeps moving forward, and just when you think they are accomplishing something at last, then another obstacle turns up and they have to start again in a new direction. The twists and turns go all over the place!

This story included plenty of action and adventure, but what really intrigued me was the mental warfare going on. When they have kidnapped the bad guy, the two ladies, Janet and Barbara, try to make things pleasant for him, going out riding together, watching the sunset, playing fireside games to pass the time. These two ladies talk with him and do their best to win the bad guy over to their side with their honest charm and kindness. Their gentleness is the real weapon against evil.

Such a great conclusion to this series!

[Todd Stockslager · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review title: Death or glory, becomes just another story

The glory of the world does not seem to amount to much when it all ends in six feet of earth.

Just another story, but when John Buchan gives these words to one of his main characters at the end of this story it shows the power of story to transcend death--and glory. I started reading Buchan with The Thirty-nine Steps, as should you for its breathless pace and great introduction to the work of this now somewhat forgotten 20th century author. But the glories of the Courts of the Morning are far different and far deeper and stand beside and indeed above in many ways to that first classic.

While Richard Hannay, Buchan's intrepid and heroic lead character in the five books I've read so far, introduces the action in a brief prologue he then is not a character in the action except as name-dropped by other characters we have met in Buchan's world before who now take center stage. Archie Roylance is an old army mate of Hannay's and with his new wife Janet planning a honeymoon trip. Sandy Arbuthnot is a Scottish mate of Hannay's from past adventures, and often takes on the stoic swashbuckling stance of an Indiana Jones. John S. Blenkiron is a bluff American businessman who has tossed in his lot with his UK mates in the past but has been unseen and unheard from for some time, but rumors of his death may have been greatly exaggerated. These three stalwarts whom we have met before as supporting cast now get to play lead roles and Hannay is equal to the task of fleshing out their characters and making them as real and appreciated as Hannay.

Archie and Janet decide, after discussion with Hannay in the prologue, to honeymoon in South America, another key difference in this Buchan book as he moves away from the usual confines of South Africa, England, Scotland and Western Europe. It is worth noting that in his fascinating career Buchan also served the British royal government for several years in Canada in addition to his upbringing in South Africa, Scotland and England. So perhaps this new setting was a natural progression in his maturation as a writer, and he allows himself, through his characters, to comment on the differences between the old world and the new, in this case the fictional country of Olifa on the west coast of South America. He captures the geographical heights of the steep mountains and deep rain forests of the region and the cultural and racial mix of native tribes, descendents of Spanish Conquistadors, European fortune seekers, and American engineers and businessmen hoping to exploit the natural resource riches of the region. This vibrant melting pot in the 1920s was, and remains to an extent today, a restless frontier with a thin veneer of law and government over ancient faultlines of culture, language, politics, and race and Buchan seems to understand and explore this world like an insider from every angle.

And finally, given the scope of his setting and characters, he slows down the pace of his plotting and allows time for the story to proceed. While The Thirty-nine Steps hammers home at a breakneck 100 pages, my 1929 Hodder and Stoughton edition of this book provides 400 pages for character and plot to develop. Indeed, if you can find an early edition like this in a used book store by all means this is the one you want to read because the yellowed pages give the three maps on the inside cover and in the text a patina of age and authenticity that adds to the impact of the story. You'll reference the maps as Buchan moves the action throughout the capital city of Olifa and throughout the extensive countryside surrounding it to tell the story of a seemingly settled and prosperous country dominated by a mining industry monopoly that controls the politics and government of the country. When Archie and Janet begin their honeymoon there as favored guests of the political and business upper class they start to see cracks in the seemingly solid veneer and before long the fault lines appear as a revolution breaks out. But the fault lines are fractal so that the story is never as simple as you think and you'll be invested all the way to the last page.

Buchan uses his extra expanse on paper wisely. While he gives characters time and space to discuss politics and culture ("You are tolerant, because you do not like America. I am intolerant because I love it," one American tells the CEO of the mining monopoly), he still keeps the adventure and suspense boiling throughout. Indeed my earlier reference to Indiana Jones was no accident, as some of the scenes have the tense and unstoppable suspense of the best Indiana Jones movies and the bad guys the same level of cold-blooded malevolence. As a side note, if you are reading other Buchan novels, which I heartily recommend, read this one before
The Island of Sheep, as Sheep makes references back to this story in its setup and characters--both the usual Buchan characters I mentioned above but also some of the bad guys--such that I wished I had read them in this sequence.

As you may guess from my quote that opened this review, a main character will achieve death--or glory. It may not be who you expect. Enjoy this classic not-just-another story.

[Hobbeldehoy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Until now I had always wanted to read a John Buchan novel given the success of The Thirty Nine Steps which I haven't yet read. I found an old copy of this story lying around and so I thought I would give it a go.

While the book was readable I had to put it down from time to time because the storyline was a bit dull. Set in a fictional South American country called Olifa the story tells of a sinister industrialist named Castro, also referred to as the Gobernador, who uses the slave labour of the indigenous Indian population to build an empire. This affront to the moral superiority of Western powers sees the intervention of British aristocrat Sandy aka Lord Clanroyden and his class peers Archie and Janet all of whom are assisted by the mysterious American called Blenkiron. Throw in some sinister mercenary types combined with a corrupt government and you have an idea what's involved.

While the intellectual depth of the author is evident in the writing, the story itself betrays the social prejudices of the author in the characters of Sandy, Archie and Janet. These three are morally superior to every other character in the book, they represent the British Aristocracy and they are there in Olifa to conduct a bloodless war with a view to overthrowing the corrupt government because corruption doesn't exist in Britain and so we have to go abroad to bring others into line with the British sense of fair play. This is very much Enid Blyton for adults.

It all has a ring of present day Syria to it. Castro (Assad) is the bad guy being nasty to his people and the superior British are the only ones who can save them. All of this is couched in very prissy language that has the reader reaching for the sick bag and is only made worse by the ludicrous description of a bloodless war where people are obviously being killed. It is almost too difficult to describe how moronic the storyline really is. How can you have a war where significant amounts of firepower is being exchanged but remains bloodless? This aspect of the storyline is only added so as to not undermine Buchan's believed moral superiority of the British.

The story is also padded out with a lot of scenery. Every geographical feature one can think of is described in detail which makes the book totally mind numbing at times and it goes on and on and on. I don't want to say more about this book. I've read worse but not much worse.

[Jeremy Hollingshead · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my favorite John Buchan novel. My favorite part of the Richard Hannay novels was always the supporting cast. Hannay is not quite as interesting as Sandy and Blenkiron, to me. However, in this novel we get most of the best characters without Hannay being stodgy. This novel was so good that I cannot understand how it is not more famous. Great characters, pacing, and plot all compliment Buchan's strong prose. This one should be a classic.

[Bettie]

This is being aired next Sunday (4/12/2011) on R4x if you are attracted to Hannay stories but it is not for me.

[Matt Kelland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this. I'm not sure why, but it thoroughly engrossed me all the way through.

[Paul Cornelius · Rating 5 out of 5]

My collected Hannay series did not include The Courts of the Morning. Only a little after completing the five that were included did I discover that Courts makes for a fifth out of six Hannay mysteries. The confusion lies in the fact that Hannay only appears at the very beginning. Readers will need to have completed the prior four novels, however, in order to appreciate Courts fully. For several prominent characters from all the Hannay series appear in this volume, in particular Sandy Arbuthnot, Archie and Janet Roylance, and John Blenkiron. As with the other Hannay works, allusions to earlier action and characterizations are mentioned in passing, yet they form important details in the creation of not only the story but the motivations and personal aspirations and fears of all involved.

The story itself, while shifting its perspective, is built around a newcomer to Buchan's fiction, the governor of a mining province, Castor. Described as Olympian and Napoleonic, Castor has created an ideal capitalist enclave and attached the rest of the country of Olifa to it. Nationalism has given way entirely to corporativism. It becomes the task of Blenkiron, the Roylances, and Sandy to turn Castor away from his original purpose and make him into a revolutionary respectful of cultural traditions and the role of the nation in building a rival in Latin America to the power of the United States.

Here is where things get interesting to me. I may be completely wrong, but it seems as if Buchan has incorporated many of Mussolini's revolutionary goals into his fictional one. The revolution, while having some battles, is mainly about positioning and bringing people around to the fact that there is no alternative. So it was with Mussolini and his March on Rome, which was no march in the traditional revolutionary sense. Instead, the fascists had put all the pieces into place. The March on Rome was simply an exercise in public relations, where the king and all interested parties had already agreed on the outcome. So, too, Castor, who, interestingly, is originally from Austria but has found his fatherland in Olifa (I think the similarity to Hitler is there but used only to give further mystical airs to the Mussolini-like Castor). Otherwise, governance and military decision making comes from a divided leadership, much like the quadrumvirs of ancient Rome and Mussolini's fascist state. Interestingly, again, one of these sort of quadrumvirs, Archie Roylance, is an aviator who uses his feats to beguile and overwhelm the opposition. One of Mussolini's quadrumvirs was Italo Balbo, who built the Italian air force, while also engaging in some spectacular transatlantic feats of aviation. I could go on, but I see many other similarities as well. Again, perhaps my imagination, but . . . .

[Serena Series · Rating 4 out of 5]

“It is not wild. It is common sense. It’s ju-jitsu, where you use the strength of your opponent to defeat him.”
“It is not common sense,” Archie declared vehemently. “It is insanity. If Dick Hannay were here, he’d say the same thing.”

the literal definition of “not bad but not good”. it was unnecessarily long, and for some reason, I thought it was best to abandon this book from time to time. there are good things that happened in this book, maybe because it was written as a book from the Richard Hannay series. so I still wanted to know what would happen. Archie was a man with some much potential. I was convinced of it since the day where we saw him for the first time when he saved our Richard back in that train scene in Mr. Standfast (a real masterpiece if I remember correctly) and I am afraid that this was a little bit thrown to waste…

what I loved in this last book is that there were a lot of references to the past plots, and that they were added to the plot for this book so it gave a lot of mystery between what we already know and what is coming :

“I’ve seen him do it a dozen times. Who? A Frenchman called D’Ingraville. He used to go gunning for Lensch, and would have got him too, if Peter Pienaar hadn’t chipped in first. But D’Ingraville died long ago.”
“I think you are mistaken,” said Castor quietly. “Captain Jacques D’Ingraville has been for several years a member of my staff.”

for example, I thought Olifa was a real woman at first. this reminded me of Greenmantle and the mystery upon that evil woman, Hilda. it was like a reminiscence of the good old days :

“Olifa is a mask—you have not seen her face. (…) So I tell you that behind the flatness of Olifa there are wild things.”
“Well, I’m blessed! D’you know, Don Luis, you are making Olifa rather attractive. You are giving me a very good reason why I should stay.”

though it was fun, I didn’t want the Richard Hannay series to end that way. I was expecting so much better, so let’s just say the real rating is 3.5 stars out of 5.

[D.M. Fletcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been a fan of John Buchan for many years. He has a gift for narrative and his standard of English is very high. He is also obsessed with the British upper classes and views the world in a very hierarchical way.
This book concerns the fairly improbable adventures of some of his usual characters and their female companions in a fictional South American country. It is prosperous but dependent on rich mines, ruled over by a genius call Castor, known as the Gobernador. There are different levels to this story - pure adventure, the relationships between the British characters and the natives - upper class ones - good, typical politicians - bad, ruffians - appalling, Native Indians- very clever and adaptable but not leaders, who are mainly 'white men' and the Gobernador himself, a semi mystical but ultimately narrow man. The theme of the book is the soul of a country versus commercialism. Exploitation versus humanity. The Gobernador's change of heart and ultimate redemption is the dominant message.
As far as the structure of the book is concerned I found the descriptions too complicated. Buchan loves his obscure words. His upper class females are paragons who never lose their temper and are feminine but plucky and beautiful. Idealised pre-WW2 womanhood. The main British characters are Sandy and Archie. Old Etonians at least in Sandy's case. He even has sympathy for one of the villains who is a fallen Old Etonian and redeems himself at the end, showing how the old school pluck wins through. A bit absurd although quite amusing. Buchan just can't bring himself to have a thoroughly bad Old Etonian.
There's lots of killing, even a threatened rape and masses of military movement.
I would put this in the middle range of Buchan's books. It's OK but the sort of book famous writers churn out because their publishers demand it. If you like derring do and good English,read it, but you'll need stamina. The long descriptions of terrain are tedious.

[Tbfrank · Rating 1 out of 5]

Published 15 years after "The Thirty-Nine Steps" with numerous volumes of fiction, poetry, biographies, and non-fiction in between, Buchan's novel is product of the milieu in which it was written. The descriptions of and attitudes expressed toward the inhabitants reflect the biases of the era. Set in a fictional country of Olifa in South America, the novel centers on the potential for creating havoc for the U.S. by destablizing its relationship with Latin America. This notion and the brief portraits of Americans provide the sole interesting bits in the tale. With minor alterations, the setting could have been Africa, reflecting the early 20th century approach to "nation-building" which has continued to the present. The locale is described in detail but the scope is entirely too broad making the geographical pictures more noise than adding color and realism to the tale. There is a damsel in distress, held prisoner in the obligatory windowless room followed by a miraculous escape via secret passages, and chase across a suspension bridge, a la Indiana Jones. Pitched battles are interspersed with guerilla warfare. Worst of all was the "evil" genius behind the original plot who has a change of heart, becoming a pseudo-tragic figure at the end.

My interest in Buchan's work is to build an understanding of the works published in the late 1920's in this genre. I pressed on to the conclusion mostly to say I did so.

[Katrin V · Rating 4 out of 5]

Buchan tells a great yarn. He took his time getting into the action with this one, about 150 pages, but it turned into a page turner at the end. I would have probably enjoyed it even more if I had a better grasp of military history. I appreciate all the literary references and good similies and metaphors. At one point a downed parachutist hanging in a tree is in an 'Absalom -like ' state and elsewhere someone's unhealthy pallor and odd manner compared to those little creatures who scurry about when a flower pot is turned over.

This should not be called a Richard Hannay novel - it really only concerns some of his friends. He really doesn't play a role in this story at all.

[David L · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bloated lump of a novel. I endured it to find out what happened, but it was only intermittently interesting. Way overindulgent with description, and with details of the military campaigns. He must have drawn up a detailed map of his fictional South American country. I can’t understand his continuing romance with war, after living through WW I.

[JoJo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not really my thing and in my view nowhere near as good as the 39 steps.

[Alyssa Bohon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thrilling, panoramic, heroic. Enjoyed every minute of it. Buchan excels at gorgeous scenery and desperate battle strategies, and in this imaginary landscape, they shine.

[dragonhelmuk · Rating 1 out of 5]

Can be kindled very cheaply since out of copyright in some places. One of Buchan’s poorer works, and a big step down from the previous. You’d have thought that an adventure in which Sandy is the hero would be much more exciting that one with Richard Hanney, but actually it turns out without him as a contrast, everything in the whole book becomes boring and slow paced. Here the adventure is based around a coup in Olifia, a fictional South American state in the 40s.

{Old ideas of America, seem like they could have been written yesterday}
"Yanquis are unpopular in England?" he asked. "No. I shouldn't say that. Americans are popular with us, as they always have been. You see, we get the best of them. But the abstract thing, America, is unpopular. She always seems to have a rather left-handed Government." A spark seemed to kindle in the other's eye. "That is right. No section of humanity deserves blame. It is governments, not peoples, that offend."
...
"No Power or alliance of Powers could conquer America. But assume that she is compelled to quarrel with a group of Olifas, and that with her genius for misrepresenting herself she appears to have a bad cause. Has she many friends on the globe except Britain? Most countries will flatter her and kowtow to her and borrow money of her, but hate her like hell. Trust them not to help matters by interpreting her case sympathetically. Inside her borders she has half a dozen nations instead of one, and that is where Castor comes in. A situation like that, when she was free to act and yet didn't want to and didn't know how to, might, if properly manipulated, split her from top to bottom. Look what happened in the Civil War, and she was an integrated nation then compared to what she is now. Twenty years ago the danger would not have been there; ten years hence, if all goes well, it may be past; but today, Blenkiron says, there is precisely as big a risk of a blow-up as there was in Europe in June 1914.


{Buchan’s beautiful but oh-so-skippable descriptions}
The tropic dawn broadened fast, though the sun did not show himself. Presently all the plateau to the east was washed in a pure, pale light. The place seemed to sparkle with a kind of hoarfrost, though the air was mild, and its undulations, and the shallow glen of the stream which descended from Choharua, were sharp-rimmed black shadows in that silver field. Then greenness broke through the monotint, like the flush of spring in an English wood, and what had been like a lunar landscape sprang suddenly into clean, thin colours. The far cone of snow became rosy-red and crystalline, so that for one moment, it hung like a translucent jewel in the sky. Then it solidified; the details of the shaly face sprang into hard reality; what had been unfeatured shadow showed now as sheer crag and intricate couloirs, specked with snowdrifts which were leaping waters. At last came the orb of the sun, first a crescent of red gold, and then by quick gradations a great burning archway in which the mountain seemed to be engulfed. The air changed to a glow of essential light, and in a moment it seemed that the faint scents of night became the warm spicy odours of day.


{The Spanish and Scottish, still believed in some quarters.}
I do not think you quite understand the meaning of Spanish blood. You ought to, for the British are nearest to us of any race. We are realists, you know, very calculating and prosaic and close to the earth. But we must have our glamour too, our touch of poetry. We make good monarchists--and good republicans, if we can hit on the right president. Castor will suit us admirably, for he will give us poetry, which the dingy camarilla now in Olifa never did. He will have ideas and imagination and colour, and the air of magnificence. With him we will advance so fast that we shall astonish mankind. But his brilliance will not be dangerous, for all around him will be Spaniards, we Oliferos, very appreciative of poetry, but quite resolved to keep our feet on the ground. Like your Scotch, who will quote the poets and weep over them, and the next moment make hard bargains."

[Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not top-notch Buchan but with many enjoyable episodes, a well-realized fictional country, and the joy of two characters usually relegated to supporting roles--Sandy Arbuthnot and Archie Roylance--given the lead for once. Full review for John Buchan June on the blog.

[A · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just started this book but my main reason to post before I have finished is because I reserved this title during lockdown from the library - they had it in their archive. It is a reprint of the first hardback edition and the latest loan label in the front shows it being loaned on 26 June 1967 - I love British libraries!

[Dana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although this book was listed in a collection of Richard Hannay stories (the protagonist of The 39 Steps), Hannay makes only a brief appearance at the beginning. This book follows the adventure of some of his friends, particularly Sandy and Archie. The book is divided into three parts, and I admit I had a hard time making through the first one. The pacing is slow in "book one," and many pages are spent following a character who is moving around the country not knowing is anything is going on. The reader already suspects some of the action, as as a reader I was impatient to get to it. The pacing picks up for "book two," though, and the excitement of the end of the story in "book three" made the book worth the read. I enjoyed the book, but not quite as much as the earlier Hannay books.

I found it interesting to read a post-WWI book written by a British author which reflected so much of an outside view of how the world saw America at the time. The picture is not entirely flattering (characters do not see unity in the country, and are disgusted with the manners of American youth). However, the book also includes a hopefulness for what the "young" country will grow if it survives its current (1920s) atmosphere. Put into perspective with the way America came together during WWII, the book's portrayal is an interesting window into the time.

[Kit Longden · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are many contradictions and odd things about this book.

Here is one. It's about a plot to turn a country from one that pursues profit, using enslaved, drugged labour, into one whose soul is connected to the landscape and people. In order to bring this about, the tactics of the heroes are described in terms of confederate America: General Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and crossing the Potomac. I am mystified why those who fought to keep slavery are used to furnish the tactics of those who seek to overthrow slavery.

Here is a suggestion for why you might want to read the book. It is a really helpful manual for understanding white privilege. That makes it fascinating. You can see he wants to be a good person, and lining up all the things he is able to not see is fascinating, starting with slavery. There's lots to enjoy in it, once you create in your head a privileged space where all the lifetimes effects of people who thought like this and governed countries, and were loved and had the love for them passed on through generations like my granny, who is a huge fan. For me, it's important to read this and to be able to simultaneously loathe the wrongs in it and to understand why people could love it so much, like my granny does.

My partner is next to me reading Anne Patchett's Bel Canto, another book about revolutionary action in South America, and it sounds great.

[Melody · Rating 4 out of 5]

Received this from a family friend who introduced me in the first place to Buchan. She found it at a thrift store... and I've been on the lookout for it forever!

I enjoyed the book--mostly. Yet Buchan's political opinions (expressed through his characters, of course) and hard-to-imagine landscape descriptions were a little much, and were a bore. However, what I loved was the adventure with Sandy Arbuthnot (now Lord Clanroyden) at the forefront, who is nearly an exact imitation of T.E. Lawrence; and one long interval when Janet Roylance gets a chance to have an adventure on her own. And her and Archie's wonderful relationship as newlyweds, is so touching and beautiful.
*Spoilers*
I was a little disappointed with the ending. The second plot--concerning Sandy and Barbara Dassent, Blankiron's neice-- was a little overlooked and didn't develop nicely at all. But the other books with the couple in them make up for that, somewhat.:)

It's an interesting read-- a bit of the philosophy is off, but I overlooked Buchan's thoughts, expressed eloquently on paper, and went on with the story.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Prescient as a lot of other Buchan work, this one set in an imaginary South American country where a multilingual highly educated aristocrat who speaks many languages, has a history as a WWI spy and enviable chameleonlike qualities that allow him to pass as most any ethnicity or social class, starts--you guessed it!--a guerrilla revolution in the highlands fighting for peasant rights and against capitalist domination, recruiting all his upper classd friends--whom if you are a Buchan fan you've already met doing aristocrat things like frolicking at Scottish castles--to participate. Doe sthis sound to you vaguely like a revolutionary movement starting--hint!--with the letter Z? I just found it incredibly bizarre this was written in 1932. I love Buchan's theme that we do crazy and idealistic things because we are bored, that's another unsettling and very post modern thread in his work. So, is it worth reading? A bit of a slog, but what an experience it is to be in Buchan's strangely timeless consciousness.

[Alayne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was not as good as the other Richard Hannay stories. For a start, Richard Hannay wasn't in it - he was mentioned by the other protagonists several times, and he "wrote" the prologue. Another thing was that the story seemed to go on and on and there was just too much description. In the end I was skipping that. It seemed a bit like a primer for how to conduct a guerilla war which didn't interest me and detracted from the tension. In the action pieces the tension was as great as ever and the story was a good one - just not Buchan's best.

[Dark-Draco · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to say that I really liked this - it is probably the best of the Hannay books I have read so far, although Richard Hannay actually has little to do with the story, except introduce it and notice that Sandy is acting oddly. Maybe it was the change from 1st person, to 3rd person, narrative that did it, but I found this a lot easier to read than the others. The story was a bit far-fetched, and I never really did get exactly why Castor was such a threat, but as a lover of fantasy fiction, I could forgive the weirdness and enjoy the story itself.

[Rog Harrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

I probably should have read this before "The Island of Sheep". This book was first published in 1929. Hannay only features in the prologue but this book features many of the characters from the Hannay series. It is set in a fictitious South American country where a revolution takes place. The plot is far fetched and the change of one character from villain to hero is unbelievable but I went with the flow and enjoyed this adventure.

[Chris Ball · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as instantly thrilling as the main Hannay novels but still an intriguing tale that drew me in and I enjoyed seeing the side characters take the reins of the story. Plus any book that uses hand drawn maps to detail the action gets my vote.

Definitely wish I'd read this BEFORE The Island of Sheep though as it fleshes out Sandy's story and a certain recurring character's...