The Three Hostages

John Buchan

1924

"They are masters of propaganda, you know. Dick, have you ever considered what a diabolical weapon that can be -- using all the channels of modern publicity to poison and warp men's minds? It is the most dangerous thing on earth. You can use it cleanly -- as I think on the whole we did in the War -- but you can also use it to establish the most damnable lies. Happily in the long run it defeats itself, but only after it has sown the world with mischief."

The Three Hostages was written by John Buchan, whose real life was nearly as colorful as that of his protagonist, Sir Richard Hannay. This is the fourth of five Hannay novels, the first being The Thirty-Nine Steps, made more famous by the 1935 film by Alfred Hitchcock. This fourth novel finds Sir Richard reluctantly interrupted from his English countryside retirement to solve a case of international intrigue. Author Buchan (1st Baron Tweedsmuir) served in many roles in government in addition to his prodigious writing career. During World War I he was Director of Information in the British Government and wrote a 24-volume history of the War. His final governmental position was as the Governor-General of Canada, where he passed in 1940. For more information, read the biography on Goodreads.

Book publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company
Book copyright: 1924
Pages: 367
Size: 5″ x 7-5/8″
Dust jacket: No
Illustrations: Frontispiece
Back matter: none
Digital edition © 2017 Curtis Philips. All Rights Reserved.

The Three Hostages

John Buchan

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