Greenmantle by John Buchan (novel #163)

"Suddenly I had a feeling that the whole affair was stark lunacy." ~ Major Hannay

Greenmantle is an adventure novel featuring Richard (Dick) Hannay. It is the second in five-novel series with Hannay as the hero. In this, as a Major in the British army during the First World War, he is sent on a clandestine mission into the enemy’s stronghold to discover the details of a mysterious scheme.

 

Major Hannay would rather be beside his men in the trenches fighting the Germans head on, but duty calls him to a more dangerous mission. British intelligence has learned – though with few details – of a German plot to ally with the Muslim world. Hannay’s mission of course is to learn the details and foil the plot. 

 

He enlists a small team to assist, consisting of diverse and colorful characters: fellow soldier Sandy Arbuthnot who has extensive cultural and linguistic experience in the Arab World, and John Blenkiron an American agent, though the U.S. was not yet officially “in”.

 

Suddenly I had a feeling that the whole affair was stark lunacy. Here we were three simpletons sitting in a London flat and projecting a mission into the enemy’s citadel without an idea what we were to do or how we were to do it. ~ Major Hannay

 

The three take separate routes to get behind enemy lines and plan to rendezvous in Turkey – which ends up during the Battle of Erzurum.

 

There are some fairly typical caricatures: a hulking, arrogant German officer, a sinister and alluring female mastermind, and numerous close calls, but of course we know – it all comes right in the end. 

 

It was a lot of fun, but to be completely honest, it felt like a guilty pleasure. There’s nothing wrong with that – and nothing really to feel guilty about. I’ll definitely read more Buchan, and more in the Richard Hannay series. 

 

I give it 3 ½ of 5 stars

 

 

This novel satisfies Square O4, Classic Adventure in the in the 2020 Classic Bingo Challenge and completes my full card BINGO!

 

 

Disambiguation: not to be confused with the novel Greenmantle by Charles De Lint

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