This year, 2019, is the 100th anniversary of the first publication of John Buchan’s spy thriller Mr Standfast.
Mr Standfast is the third book in the series of five Richard Hannay adventures; it follows Greenmantle and precedes The Three Hostages.
I think of Greenmantle and The Three Hostages
as being the best of the Richard Hannay books; I find Mr Standfast and The
Island of Sheep the least enjoyable to read; I put The Thirty-Nine Steps in the
middle of the two groups.
The main problem with Mr Standfast is the
effect that it doesn’t have. I find it less enthralling than other books in the
series. To me, Mr Standfast is more of the same; it is The Thirty-Nine Steps
with World War I scenes added.
Although most of the small amount of inspirational material that Mr Standfast contains has already appeared in two previous articles, there is still a little more to say about the book. I
want to highlight a few quotations and scenes that I particularly like.
