John Buchan was a prolific author and a distinguished statesman who rose from relatively humble beginnings in Scotland to become a Conservative Member of Parliament and Governor General of Canada. Although best remembered now for his 1915 novel

The Thirty Nine Steps

, his remarkable output of over seventy volumes of fiction, biography, history and essays comprises a significant and often undervalued contribution to British, and in particular Scottish, letters and reveals a man of deep learning and accomplished literary craftsmanship.

Born in Perth in 1875, the eldest of six children, to the Reverend John Buchan, a minister of the Free Church of Scotland, and his wife Helen, the daughter of a Borders sheep farmer, Buchan’s earliest memories were of the countryside, coal-mines and a

1917 words

Citation: Miller, John . "John Buchan". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 31 May 2007 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=626, accessed 19 March 2024.]

626 John Buchan 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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