Yesterday, I was very privileged to visit the village of Elsfield in Oxfordshire, where the author John Buchan once lived and his ashes are now buried in the local churchyard. Buchan was the author of the famous novel, The Thirty Nine Steps, which has been turned into four films. The novel is about German espionage in Britain just prior to WW1.
He later wrote the novel, Greenmantle, about a German plot to foment a jihad, or Holy War, against the British Empire during WW1. The novel is based on a true story. Like many writers of the time, Buchan was employed by the Secret Intelligence Service.
I am flattered to say that several people, including a literary consultant, have compared my latest novel, Now the Darkness Gathers, very favourably with the works of John Buchan. My novel, too, is based on the true story of the German plot in Persia to turn the Moslem and Hindu world against the British in order to divert troops from the Western front to the Middle East and Indian sub-continent. I am proud to have my name linked with such a distinguished writer.
For an accurate and true account of the plot, I recommend Peter Hopkirk’s, Like Hidden Fire.
