Synopses & Reviews
In 1925, John Buchan published his second most famous novel, John Macnab; three high-flying men—a barrister, a cabinet minister and a banker—are suffering from boredom. They concoct a plan to cure it. They inform three Scottish estates that they will poach from each two stags and a salmon in a given time. They sign collectively as 'John McNab' and await the responses. This novel is a light interlude within the Leithen Stories series—an evocative look at the hunting, shooting and fishing lifestyle in Highland Scotland.
Synopsis
John Macnab is a novel written by John Buchan about three successful friends in their mid-forties who decide to turn to poaching. Under the name of John Macnab they set up shop in the home of a conservative member of a parliament and fight with their neighbors who believe they are going to steal fish from their land.
About the Author
John Buchan, one of Alfred Hitchcock's favorite writers, 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. Andrew Greig is a prize-winning writer and poet whose novel The Return of John MacNab (Faber 2002) is being filmed for the BBC.