Biographies by John Buchan. Book 12

Biographies by John Buchan. Book 12: 1. Lord Minto. A Memoir; 2. Memory Hold-the-Door; Sir Walter Scott. 


1. Lord Minto. A Memoir: Published - 1924.

A fascinating biography of Lord Minto once governor of Canada and Viceroy of India. Written by John Buchan from original letters and documents.

«In writing this Memoir I have had access to the journal and the private papers of Lord Minto, as well as to the official records of his administration in India and Canada, and I have had the further advantage of talks and consultations with many of his friends. To these I would offer my sincere thanks, and I would gratefully acknowledge the kindness of Lady Hutton, who lent me some of the papers of her husband, the late Lieutenant-General Sir Edward Hutton, and the generosity of the executors of the late Lord Morley and Messrs. Macmillan and Co., who have permitted me to quote extracts from Lord Morley's letters, both published and unpublished.»

John Buchan.


2. Memory Hold-the-Door: Published - 1940.

Memory Hold-the-Door is the 1940 autobiography of John Buchan. It was published in the United States under the title Pilgrim's Way.

John Buchan died in February 1940, and Memory Hold-the Door was published posthumously. The author states clearly in the preface that this personal memoir is not intended as an autobiography per se, given, for example, the lack of objective references. The book recounts Buchan's life of public service, his literary work from his early days in the Scottish Highlands through his years at Oxford, and his service in both Britain's Boer campaign and World War I (the latter, as Britain's Director of Intelligence and Information for the War Cabinet), before covering his years in Parliament, and appointment as Governor General of Canada. Of particular interest are Buchan's personal profiles of such contemporaries as Lord Grey, Lord Oxford, Raymond Asquith, Lord Haldane, Earl Balfour, Lord French, Sir Henry Wilson, Lord Haig, Lord Byng of Vimy, T.E. Lawrence, and King George V.


3. Sir Walter Scott: Published - 1923.

To know Sir Walter Scott as a man is as delightful and fruitful an experience as to appreciate the greatness of his books.

Buchan vividly and affectionately describes the writer whose novels and poems made him the most popular author of his day. 

Scott was born in 1771 to a powerful Border family. Buchan is qualified to write with sympathy about his Scottish upbringing, disappointment in love and decline into illness and bankruptcy. 

His feeling for Scott's novels brings them alive for us and provides a deeper understanding of such major works as Ivanhoe and Waverley.