John Buchan

The Thirty-nine Steps (Annotated) John Buchan

Differentiated book- It has a historical context with research of the time-The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan. John Buchan, First Baron of Tweedsmuir (1875 - 1940) was a Scottish novelist and politician in the Scottish Unionist Party who served as Governor-General of Canada. Buchan was the oldest son in a family of four and a surviving daughter (novelist Anna Buchan) born to a pastor of the Free Church of Scotland, John Buchan (1847-1911), and his wife Helen Jane (1857-1937), daughter of John Masterton, farmer, from Broughton Green, near Peebles. Born in Perth and growing up in Fife, he spends numerous summer vacations with his grandparents in the Borders, developing the love for hiking and the Borders landscape and wildlife that is often portrayed in his novels. An example is Sir Edward Leithen, the hero of some of Buchan's books, which owes its name to Leithen Water, a tributary of the River Tweed. After attending the Hutchesons Grammar School, Buchan won a scholarship to the University of Glasgow where he studied Classical Philology, wrote poetry, and was first published. He then studied Literae Humaniores (name given to Classical Philology in some universities, such as Oxford) at Brasenose College, Oxford, winning the Newdigate prize for poetry. He had a gift for making friendships that he would keep throughout his life.