Mr. Standfast · Chapters
Chapters explained
Chapter companions for Mr. Standfast by John Buchan.
Each chapter has a companion in the reader — open a free preview to see notes beside the text.
Chapter 1
Dedication
The author dedicates the book to the officers and men of the South African Infantry Brigade who served on the Western Front.
Chapter 2
Mr. Standfast Part I
Richard Hannay is summoned from the front lines to undertake a new secret mission. He is instructed to go undercover as Cornelius Brand, a pacifist, to infiltrate a network of German spies operating in England. The chapter sets up the stakes of the war and Hannay's reluctant return to espionage.
Chapter 3
The Wicket-Gate
Richard Hannay is summoned from the front by Bullivant and Macgillivray, who persuade him to undertake a new undercover mission as Cornelius Brand, a pacifist engineer from South Africa. He visits his wounded friend Blaikie at Isham, receives a letter from the crippled Peter Pienaar, and experiences a profound vision of England's peace. He then proceeds to Fosse Manor, where he meets the eccentric Wymondham sisters and their cousin Launcelot Wake, awaiting his orders.
Chapter 4
The Village Named Morality
Hannay, undercover as Cornelius Brand, immerses himself in the pacifist community of Biggleswick, categorizing the various anti-war factions and growing frustrated by their detachment from the war's reality. He finds comfort in a letter from Blenkiron, who is in London, and later attends a Moot Hall debate where he meets Launcelot Wake and Moxon Ivery for the first time. After delivering a vehement speech, he gains Wake's approval and a brief introduction to Ivery.
Chapter 5
The Reflections of a Cured Dyspeptic
Hannay meets with Blenkiron in London, who reveals his extensive undercover work among the British working class and his discovery of a high-level German spy network centered in England. Blenkiron identifies the mastermind as a pure Boche agent and outlines a plan for Hannay to go north to Glasgow, posing as a pacifist to get close to a man named Gresson. Hannay travels with Ivery, who encourages his mission, and encounters Mary Lamington again.
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19 more companions → free preview- Chapter 6IV: Andrew Amos
- Chapter 7Various Doings in the West
- Chapter 8VI: The Skirts of the Coolin
- Chapter 9I Hear of the Wild Birds
- Chapter 10The Adventures of a Bagman
- Chapter 11IX: I Take the Wings of a Dove
- Chapter 12X: The Advantages of an Air Raid
- Chapter 13The Valley of Humiliation
- Chapter 14XII: I Become a Combatant Once More
- Chapter 15The Adventure of the Picardy Château
- Chapter 16Mr. Blenkiron Discourses on Love and War
- Chapter 17St. Anton
- Chapter 18XVI: I Lie on a Hard Bed
- Chapter 19XVII: The Col of the Swallows
- Chapter 20The Underground Railway
- Chapter 21XIX: The Cage of the Wild Birds
- Chapter 22The Storm Breaks in the West
- Chapter 23How an Exile Returned to His Own People
- Chapter 24The Summons Comes for Mr. Standfast