Introduction
John Buchan (1875-1940), 1st Baron Tweedsmuir, was a man of many talents: classicist, barrister, writer of serious history and rattling adventure yarns, influential member of the Church of Scotland, high-flying Westminster MP, and from 1935, Governor-General of Canada.
IN 1903, Scotsman and Oxford graduate John Buchan returned to Britain from South Africa, after a two-year posting as secretary to the High Commissioner there. He married in 1907, and then embarked on a career as a barrister, albeit briefly, a journalist, and a novelist, publishing the adventure story ‘Prester John’, set in South Africa, in 1910.*
A year after the outbreak of the Great War in 1914, Buchan published his most enduringly popular tale ‘The Thirty-Nine Steps’,* but also received a commission in the Intelligence Corps, writing speeches for Field Marshal Douglas Haig. His spy yarn ‘Greenmantle’ about Germany’s attempt to stir up Islamic jihad against the Allies followed in 1916, and its author rose to Director of Information a year later.
Following the armistice in 1918, Buchan continued to publish biography, adventure novels and military history while serving as a director of news agency Reuters, as High Commissioner to the Church of Scotland, and from 1927 as Unionist MP for the Scottish Universities.
He had already written and published five novels. The first, ‘Sir Quixote of the Moors’, appeared in 1895, when he was just nineteen. In all, he published 28 novels and four collections of short stories, four books of poetry, and over fifty non-fiction books chiefly on Church history, military history, and biography.
The novel was turned into a movie by Alfred Hitchcock in 1935, the year that Buchan was appointed Viceroy of Canada. The plot was much altered, and arguably not for the better, but the film, starring Robert Donat, is nonetheless widely regarded as a landmark event in film and TV history; Orson Welles called it a masterpiece.
Précis
John Buchan was a Scottish barrister, novelist and MP, who spent two years in Southern Africa before returning to England in 1903, and serving his country in the Great War by rising to Director of Intelligence. After the war, he continued writing adventure stories and histories of the war, and also returned to Parliament. (54 / 60 words)
John Buchan was a Scottish barrister, novelist and MP, who spent two years in Southern Africa before returning to England in 1903, and serving his country in the Great War by rising to Director of Intelligence. After the war, he continued writing adventure stories and histories of the war, and also returned to Parliament.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 60 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 50 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: although, besides, despite, or, otherwise, until, whereas, whether.
Word Games
Sevens Based on this passage
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Variations: 1.expand your answer to exactly fourteen words. 2.expand your answer further, to exactly twenty-one words. 3.include one of the following words in your answer: if, but, despite, because, (al)though, unless.
Jigsaws Based on this passage
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
You are welcome to share your creativity with me, or ask for help with any of the exercises on Clay Lane. Write to me at this address:
See more at Email Support.
If you like what I’m doing here on Clay Lane, from time to time you could buy me a coffee.
Buy Me a Coffee is a crowdfunding website, used by over a million people. It is designed to help content creators like me make a living from their work. ‘Buy Me a Coffee’ prides itself on its security, and there is no need to register.
