John Buchan, Greenmantle

Kate Macdonald (University of Ghent)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.3: Scottish Writing and Culture, 400-present.
Vol. editors: Kate Ash-Irisarri (University of Edinburgh), Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), J. Derrick McClure (University of Aberdeen)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1916

Places

Scotland (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Novel
Spy and Espionage

Resources

John Buchan’s thriller Greenmantle has become a historical document as well as retaining its position as one of the great adventure novels written during the First World War. It is based on little-known episodes from the war, which were important at the time but which were overshadowed by later events in the history of the war as a whole. In Greenmantle Buchan teaches us war history, but we have to be careful that we recognise the fantasy, since Buchan was absorbing fact throughout the war and making fiction from it (Macdonald 2007a). Greenmantle was a hugely popular book, and was read by soldiers as well as civilians, possibly because it was one of the war books which “encouraged participation and …

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3071 words

Citation: Macdonald, Kate. "Greenmantle". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 24 August 2007 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=20321, accessed 21 November 2024.]

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