The Leithen Stories

Introduced by Christopher Harvie. Sir Edward Leithen, lawyer, politician, sportsman and occasional philosopher, was probably the most autobiographical of John Buchan’s heroes. This collection of four novels, written over a span of thirty years, shows Leithen/Buchan in all his moods – from the urban menace of The Power House in which ‘the thin line between civilisation and barbarism’ runs through London’s West End; to the Highland exhilaration of John Macnab; the twists and turns of The Dancing Floor; and Sick Heart River, where Leithen meets death and redemption in the wastes of Canada. Buchan’s learning and practical experience took him far beyond the range of the ‘clubland hero’ and these tales lead us to the heart of one of Scotland’s most fascinating and enigmatic writers. ‘John Buchan was the first to realise the enormous dramatic value of adventure in familiar surroundings happening to unadventurous men.’ Graham Greene