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Mr. Standfast · Chapters

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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.

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. 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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  1. Chapter 6IV: Andrew Amos
  2. Chapter 7Various Doings in the West
  3. Chapter 8VI: The Skirts of the Coolin
  4. Chapter 9I Hear of the Wild Birds
  5. Chapter 10The Adventures of a Bagman
  6. Chapter 11IX: I Take the Wings of a Dove
  7. Chapter 12X: The Advantages of an Air Raid
  8. Chapter 13The Valley of Humiliation
  9. Chapter 14XII: I Become a Combatant Once More
  10. Chapter 15The Adventure of the Picardy Château
  11. Chapter 16Mr. Blenkiron Discourses on Love and War
  12. Chapter 17St. Anton
  13. Chapter 18XVI: I Lie on a Hard Bed
  14. Chapter 19XVII: The Col of the Swallows
  15. Chapter 20The Underground Railway
  16. Chapter 21XIX: The Cage of the Wild Birds
  17. Chapter 22The Storm Breaks in the West
  18. Chapter 23How an Exile Returned to His Own People
  19. Chapter 24The Summons Comes for Mr. Standfast