Audiobook · read by volunteers
Greenmantle
John Buchan (1875–1940)
Read by RedToby, J. M. Smallheer, Zachary Brewster-Geisz, Vivian Bush, Nichole Karl, Missie, Lucy Burgoyne (1950-2014), Laurie Anne Walden · 22 chapters · 9 h 09
About the book
It is 1915, and Britain is at war. Richard Hannay, who has already survived one dangerous adventure, is called to the Foreign Office with an unusual mission. Rumours speak of a holy war about to be stirred up in the Middle East, and a mysterious word, Greenmantle, is the only clue to who might be behind it. Hannay and his friends set out across a Europe at war, through Germany and into Turkey, in disguise and under constant threat. John Buchan, who knew wartime Britain from the inside, tells the story at breakneck pace, with a lively mixture of danger, comradeship and humour. It is a classic spy adventure, and a memorable portrait of an age of secret missions.
Introduction
John Buchan (1875-1940) was a Scottish writer and public servant who combined a career in politics and diplomacy with a prolific output of fiction and history. He later became Governor General of Canada. He is best known for The Thirty-Nine Steps, published in 1915, which introduced Richard Hannay.
Greenmantle is the second of five Hannay novels. It was first published in 1916 by Hodder and Stoughton in London, and it is one of two Hannay novels set during the First World War, the other being Mr Standfast of 1919. Buchan wrote it during the war, while closely involved in the British war effort, and the book reflects both the urgency of the time and a certain gentlemanly enthusiasm for adventure that now seems very much of its period.
The story takes the form of a chase and a quest, moving across continents and between very different worlds. Buchan has a gift for landscape and for atmosphere, and the pace seldom flags. As with much popular fiction of the time, the book reflects the attitudes of its day, which readers will want to bear in mind.
The recording has twenty-two chapters and lasts about nine hours. It is read by LibriVox volunteers. If you enjoy espionage tales with an old-fashioned flavour, this is a fine example of the genre at its best, and a good companion for a long afternoon. Readers who have enjoyed the first Hannay story will find the same energy here, and new listeners can join without difficulty. It is an engaging, fast-moving tale that captures the mood of its time.
Public domain
John Buchan died in 1940: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text