Greenmantle
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Greenmantle offers a gripping blend of espionage, wartime adventure, and enduring camaraderie, making it a classic for fans of spy thrillers and historical fiction.
Edition details
Book Summary
In Greenmantle, Major Richard Hannay is tasked with thwarting a German plot to incite a Muslim holy war during World War I. Alongside his comrades Sandy Arbuthnot, John Blenkiron, and Peter Pienaar, he embarks on a perilous journey across Europe and the Ottoman Empire, facing espionage, disguise, and deadly confrontations.
Convalescing after the Battle of Loos, Hannay is summoned by Sir Walter Bullivant to uncover a German scheme involving a prophet called Greenmantle, who could rally the Muslim world against the Allies. Hannay recruits the American Blenkiron, the adventurous Sandy, and the Boer scout Peter Pienaar. Disguised as a Dutch collaborator, Hannay escapes Germany via munitions barges, reunites with Peter, and travels to Constantinople. There, they encounter the formidable Hilda von Einem, who controls the dying Greenmantle. The group races to Erzerum, stealing a map of Turkish defenses. Peter volunteers to deliver the map through enemy lines, enduring a brutal winter battle. In a final confrontation, von Einem is killed, and the Russian army breaks through, securing victory. The story emphasizes patriotism, friendship, and courage amid the chaos of war.
Reading guide
Go deeper in Greenmantle
Character guides, themes, chapter companions — plus Character Web, narrative arc, and theme heatmap teasers that unlock fully beside the text in BetterReads.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book.
- Setup
- Escalation
- Breaking point
This is the story's dramatic climax because it presents the emotional and psychological peak of the protagonis…
Richard Hannay
A big-game hunter turned British officer, Hannay narrates his own reluctant descent into espionage with dry nerve and a soldier's distaste for glory.
Peter Pienaar
A lean, girl-faced Boer hunter who has crossed deserts on foot and shot men to wound, Peter is Hannay's oldest African comrade and unlikeliest ally.
John S. Blenkiron
An American engineer with a ruined stomach and a genius for quiet intrigue, Blenkiron turns up in the strangest places with platitudes and hidden purpose.
Sandy Arbuthnot
A brilliant, high-strung adventurer who can pass as a native of half the East, Sandy is the mission's most gifted and most dangerously imaginative agent.
Ulric von Stumm
A hulking German colonel who broke the Hereros and now runs a secret operation in Constantinople, Stumm is brutal, watchful, and easily underestimated.
Sir Walter Bullivant
A weary, shrewd Foreign Office spymaster who has aged visibly under the war's weight, Sir Walter pulls Hannay off the trenches and into a stranger fight.
Patriotism and Duty
The narrative centers on Richard Hannay's willingness to undertake a dangerous secret mission for his country, contrasting the soldier's duty on the battlefield with the more solitary, high-stakes work of espionage, and emphasizing sacrifice for the greater good.
Adventure and Espionage
The book is a classic adventure and spy thriller, following Hannay and his companions through a series of perilous escapades, disguises, and narrow escapes across Europe and the Middle East during World War I.
Friendship and Comradeship
The bond between Hannay, Sandy, Peter, and Blenkiron is a central pillar of the story, with their loyalty, mutual trust, and willingness to risk their lives for one another driving the plot forward.
The Other and Cultural Clash
The novel explores encounters with foreign cultures, particularly German and Ottoman, often portraying them through a lens of suspicion, exoticism, and strategic opposition, while also showing the protagonists' ability to adapt and blend in.
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