Greenmantle [ Illustrated ]

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Greenmantle (Illustrated) (Electronic book text)

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later. Kindle Edition Verified Purchase. I love the unapologetic attitude of our narrator in these early spy genre entries. Just about every nationality and religion can find an offending slur, but hey, it was a century ago - and it's teachable. That is, after all, the premise of this yarn. Oh, all the other players are here, too - but this is the "Near East" and so the role of the Moslems, with heavy emphasis on German manipulation, make this a fascinating period yarn.

Happily, no one thought to sanitize this for 21st Century sensibilities and it's a keen look into the Empire and Imperialistic period of several monarchies. I read the Kindle Version. This is a book for someone who likes page-turning adventure, but cringes at the 21st Century idea that the genre needs graphic violence, gratuitous sex and use of the f-bomb to entertain.

Yes, there is violence it is a WW1 novel, after all. And there are a few uses of mild vugarities, as well as ethnic references that offend modern, thin-skinned people looking for any reason to be offended. If you are one of those, read something else. But if "clean" by modern standards literature with a Judeo-Christian background suits your preference, get this book.

It is the second in the Richard Hannay series, taking up where "The 39 Steps" leaves off. Overall, a great, easy read with many historical and cultural references to life in a war zone a century ago. The characters are realistic, though some of the ways they get out of trouble seem miraculous. The setting is vivdly described with detailed descriptions. One almost feels the cold as the main character escapes German soldiers in a cold, snowy region. Or imagines climbing mountains in Turkey leading to the climax.

While holidaying in Bali recently, I needed a book suitable for reading by the pool. Something simple; a getaway type of book that was not too taxing. It covers the exploits of Richard Hannay as he aims to unravel a mystery in present day Turkey. He has a small team of supporters who manage to cross enemy lines from Britain before gathering in Constantinople. Here, they have many close shaves before stumbling upon critical military intelligence that would be useful to the Russians as they faced the Ottomans.

While the book is a fun read, it could never be described as great literature. The language is also very dated and the racial stereotypes jar on the modern ear. Nonetheless, for a book to read by the edge of the pool in the sun it is more than adequate. Indeed, Richard Hannay could be best be described as an early version of James Bond. In other words, all good fun but not to be taken too seriously.

One person found this helpful. A perfect period piece and follow-up to The 39 Steps. Richard Hannay is the literary ancestor of all later secret agents. Cynicism hadn't set in yet. This time, his mission is to the mysterious East. Hannay and his accomplices are on a desperate mission to prevent all of Islam from siding with Germany in the First World War. The sentiments seem quaint and dated by the lights of our time, but courage, wit, and sacrifice still have their uses.

This is the way the British like to see themselves, and it got them through two desperate wars, so we might do well not to sneer. And, if you like mysteries, it's a cracking good read. Pretend you are still young and hopeful of a better world as you read it.

The plot is somewhat improbable but John Buchan did it again - it is very readable and quite exciting. It was written shortly after WWI and its descriptions of life in Germany are remarkable in its balanced nature and an often admiring tone when describing the Turkish Army. I love the unapologetic attitude of our narrator in these early spy genre entries. Just about every nationality and religion can find an offending slur, but hey, it was a century ago - and it's teachable.

That is, after all, the premise of this yarn. Oh, all the other players are here, too - but this is the "Near East" and so the role of the Moslems, with heavy emphasis on German manipulation, make this a fascinating period yarn. Happily, no one thought to sanitize this for 21st Century sensibilities and it's a keen look into the Empire and Imperialistic period of several monarchies.

I read the Kindle Version. This is a book for someone who likes page-turning adventure, but cringes at the 21st Century idea that the genre needs graphic violence, gratuitous sex and use of the f-bomb to entertain. Yes, there is violence it is a WW1 novel, after all. And there are a few uses of mild vugarities, as well as ethnic references that offend modern, thin-skinned people looking for any reason to be offended.

If you are one of those, read something else. But if "clean" by modern standards literature with a Judeo-Christian background suits your preference, get this book. It is the second in the Richard Hannay series, taking up where "The 39 Steps" leaves off. Overall, a great, easy read with many historical and cultural references to life in a war zone a century ago.

Greenmantle - Wikipedia

The characters are realistic, though some of the ways they get out of trouble seem miraculous. The setting is vivdly described with detailed descriptions. One almost feels the cold as the main character escapes German soldiers in a cold, snowy region. Or imagines climbing mountains in Turkey leading to the climax. While holidaying in Bali recently, I needed a book suitable for reading by the pool. Something simple; a getaway type of book that was not too taxing. It covers the exploits of Richard Hannay as he aims to unravel a mystery in present day Turkey.

He has a small team of supporters who manage to cross enemy lines from Britain before gathering in Constantinople. Here, they have many close shaves before stumbling upon critical military intelligence that would be useful to the Russians as they faced the Ottomans. While the book is a fun read, it could never be described as great literature.

The language is also very dated and the racial stereotypes jar on the modern ear.

Editorial Reviews

Nonetheless, for a book to read by the edge of the pool in the sun it is more than adequate. Indeed, Richard Hannay could be best be described as an early version of James Bond. In other words, all good fun but not to be taken too seriously. One person found this helpful. A perfect period piece and follow-up to The 39 Steps.

Richard Hannay is the literary ancestor of all later secret agents. Cynicism hadn't set in yet.

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This time, his mission is to the mysterious East. Hannay and his accomplices are on a desperate mission to prevent all of Islam from siding with Germany in the First World War.

The sentiments seem quaint and dated by the lights of our time, but courage, wit, and sacrifice still have their uses. This is the way the British like to see themselves, and it got them through two desperate wars, so we might do well not to sneer. And, if you like mysteries, it's a cracking good read. Pretend you are still young and hopeful of a better world as you read it.

The plot is somewhat improbable but John Buchan did it again - it is very readable and quite exciting. It was written shortly after WWI and its descriptions of life in Germany are remarkable in its balanced nature and an often admiring tone when describing the Turkish Army. The book is definitely not pc by today's standards, albeit with non-pc bits offensive to both majorities and minorities. The author underplays the horrors of trench warfare and may have played the stiff upper lip approach too far even by the standards of his day.

And that turned me on to "Greenmantle" due to Hopkirk's several references to the novel, as a work of fiction closely based on the battle of Erzerum in which British spies--in the novel, Richard Hannay and Sandy Arbuthnot--smuggle secret maps to the Russians, who thus destroy the city and German hopes for an eastern empire.

And according to a letter smuggled out of Russia, the Tsar and his family were reading Greenmantle while imprisoned and shortly before their execution by the Bolsheviks. These accounts made me want to read Greenmantle itself, published in I have to say, it was thrilling. I read it in 24 hours. Alfred Hitchcock wanted to make it into a movie, and it's a shame he didn't, but the Buchan family wanted too much for the rights. It's now available on Kindle who could imagine?