I really enjoy reading the books of John Buchan (see my previous article on Buchan). Primarily I speak of the series of thrillers that feature Richard Hannay, including the most popular Thirty-Nine Steps (1915). And I say this notwithstanding the observations of his work as a writer, his career in government service, and his character that I will present in this essay.
In 1921 Buchan’s The Path of the King was published. It consists of 14 chapters, each a vignette from a brilliantly evoked historical period, following chronologically from the death of a Viking king (Chapter 1) to the childhood (Chapter 13) and death (Chapter 14) of Abraham Lincoln. The publisher Simon & Schuster describes the protagonists of the intermediate chapters: “a Norman knight who fought under Duke William and settled in England; a French knight, emissary of Saint Louis to Kubla Khan; a proud demoiselle, friend to Jeanne d’Arc; a French gentleman who went with Columbus on his second voyage; an avenger of Saint Bartholomew’s Day; a friend to Sir Walter Raleigh; a supporter of Cromwell; a soldier of fortune under Marlborough; a mighty hunter in Virginia—all these, says Mr. Buchan, were Lincoln’s forebears. Their blood ran in his veins and made him, in James Russell Lowell’s phrase, “the last of the kings.”” This theme alone, of Lincoln in the bloodline of a king, might make even the most ardent American member of the Lincoln cult blush. But consider this imaginary exchange posed by Buchan between Lincoln and his Secretary of State William Seward before the war began.
The 39 Steps
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Seward seemed to pull himself together. He took a turn down the room and then faced…