Ursula Buchan
Författare till Beyond the Thirty-Nine Steps: A Life of John Buchan
Verk av Ursula Buchan
Associerade verk
Taggad
Allmänna fakta
- Andra namn
- Buchan, Ursula Margaret Bridget
- Födelsedag
- 1953-06-25
- Kön
- female
- Nationalitet
- UK
- Utbildning
- University of Cambridge (New Hall)
- Yrken
- garden writer
- Relationer
- Buchan, William James de L'Aigle (father)
Buchan, James (brother)
Buchan, John (grandfather)
Buchan, Susan Grosvenor (grandmother)
Buchan, Anna (great aunt)
Buchan, John Norman Stuart (uncle)
Medlemmar
Recensioner
Priser
Du skulle kanske också gilla
Associerade författare
Statistik
- Verk
- 19
- Även av
- 8
- Medlemmar
- 326
- Popularitet
- #72,687
- Betyg
- 3.7
- Recensioner
- 7
- ISBN
- 44
- Språk
- 1
John Buchan was far more than just a ‘shocker’ writer (as he termed these books) and this loving, comprehensive and very readable biography by his granddaughter lays out the events and motivations of what today might be considered an incomprehensible array of talents and achievements.
The son of a Free Church minister in Scotland, Buchan was a published author before he went up to Oxford (achieving a First in Greats), became a barrister, moved to South Africa to take up what became a senior and important post in the colonial administration, returned to England to become a senior member of a major publishing house, before becoming the leader of the British propaganda campaign in the First World War, writing a very popular and influential commentary and history of the War. He ends his career with a 5-year stint as the Governor-General of Canada leading up to the Second World War, where he played a major part not only in binding Canada together as a unified and independent country, but in presenting the Allies’ case to the United States.
On top of all this he wrote, wrote, wrote. Approximately 100 books, both fiction and non-fiction, some of which was highly scholarly, and thousands of articles, essays and journalism.
The key element that this book brings out is the personality of Buchan. He was almost universally admired and liked. He had the knack of being able to talk to anyone and hold their interest as an equal.
This is an excellent biography that reveals the life and talents of a man that, frankly, would not be believable were it not true. I read this in great gulps as I always wanted to find out what happened next - one of they key requirements of a successful ‘shocker’.… (mer)