The Island of Sheep: Authorised Edition

John Buchan

Aug 2012 · Casemate Publishers

About this ebook

In this classic by the author of The Thirty-Nine Steps, a retiring hero’s past draws him into an action-packed adventure capped by a deadly standoff.

A long-forgotten promise made by Richard Hannay finds him honor-bound to resolve a violent vendetta endangering the lives of a young father and his daughter from unscrupulous and desperate men. Hannay sets out on a high-octane chase from the rural tranquility of his English manor to the Scottish Borders, and ultimately to Scandinavia. On the remote Island of Sheep, a final confrontation begins, and everything will be decided, once and for all . . .

This, the last of the Hannay adventures—and the last of Buchan’s novels to be published during his lifetime—is a rare gem of high drama interwoven with Buchan’s personal beliefs about the problems of a post-war world.

Previously published as The Man from the Norlands

About the author

John Buchan was a Scottish diplomat, barrister, journalist, historian, poet and novelist. He published nearly 30 novels and seven collections of short stories. He was born in Perth, an eldest son, and studied at Glasgow and Oxford. In 1901 he became a barrister of the Middle Temple and a private secretary to the High Commissioner for South Africa. In 1907 he married Susan Charlotte Grosvenor and they subsequently had four children. After spells as a war correspondent, Lloyd George's Director of Information and Conservative MP, Buchan moved to Canada in 1935. He served as Governor General there until his death in 1940. Hew Strachan is Chichele Professor of the History of War at the University of Oxford; his research interests include military history from the 18th century to date, including contemporary strategic studies, but with particular interest in the First World War and in the history of the British Army.