Prester John

Prester John was written as a boys' adventure story set mostly in South Africa. It was published in 1910 when Buchan was 35. The South African background was based on the two years from 1901 which Buchan spent as a private secretary to Lord Milner, High Commissioner to South Africa and later governor of the Transvaal and Orange Free State. Buchan was a strong supporter of the British Empire and the British Commonwealth, and this can be seen in this novel. Containing the racial stereotypes and caricatures of its day, the book was popular, and constitutes an excellent example of early 20th century adventure novel. It is still in print today and much of the novel's theme of cultural clash is still relevant. Buchan's rich, lively descriptions of the South African landscape, which he knew well, are memorable. It contains the notable line: "Perfect love casteth out fear, the Bible says; but, to speak it reverently, so does perfect hate. Although the novel contains observations on relations between blacks and whites, the clash of different cultures and civilisations and the role of imperial paternalism, it needs to be read primarily as a fast-moving novel of adventure in the style of novels by Robert Louis Stevenson and Rider Haggard.