Character guide

Moxon Ivery

major

Also known as Mr. Ivery, Ivery, Mr. Moxon Ivery

In the pacifist colony at Biggleswick, Ivery passes as a mild, well-read gentleman, welcome at every tea table and above suspicion. Yet the war's whole secret machinery seems to bend around him: he is the spider at the centre of a web that reaches from Scottish cliffs to American journalists. Hannay's pursuit of him becomes the spine of the book, and the closer he gets, the more the affable scholar's mask slips toward something imperial and merciless.

John S. Blenkiron

major

Also known as old Blenkiron, Mr. Blenkiron, the old Blenkiron

Blenkiron moves through the book as Hannay's steadiest ally, a man who never hurries and never misses, running agents and old friendships from Emporia to London. He affects the harmless invalid, dosing himself and shuffling cards, while quietly countering moves that would break lesser men. His calm in the face of Ivery's triumph is the measure of him: even when the trap seems closed, he is still playing his own game.

Peter Pienaar

major

Also known as old Peter, Peter Dobson, Pete

Peter is Hannay's oldest comrade from South African days, a gentle, ungrammatical man who has faced death so often it has become ordinary. Wounded and taken prisoner, he fills his letters with reflections on bravery drawn from the Bible and Pilgrim's Progress, measuring himself against Mr. Standfast and finding himself wanting. His quiet resolve and his stubborn refusal to be pitied give the novel its moral centre, and his fate hangs over the whole adventure.

Mary Lamington

major

Also known as Miss Lamington, Miss Mary Lamington, Miss Mary

Mary works inside the same shadow network as Hannay, moving between Biggleswick and the front with a composure that belies her years. She is the one who names the cost of their trade, warning that the best of them will be taken, and her presence steadies the whole confederacy. Her blend of tenderness and resolve, fussing over Peter on the train while never flinching from the work, makes her both the book's emotional anchor and one of its sharpest operatives.

Richard Hannay

major

Also known as Dick, Hannay, General Hannay, Brigadier-General Richard Hannay

Hannay narrates the book from the mud of a thinly held sector, where a single German reconnaissance plane could doom his division, and from the stranger byways of a country riddled with enemy agents. He is a soldier who would rather be hunting than commanding, and his instinct for the lone trail repeatedly pulls him away from the safety of headquarters. His loyalty to Peter, Mary, and Blenkiron, and his growing hatred of Ivery, drive him through disguises, cliffs, and cold seas toward a confrontation he knows only one of them will survive.

Launcelot Wake

supporting

Also known as Wake, Poor Launcelot

Wake arrives in the story as a type Hannay distrusts: a clever, argumentative objector to the war, more at home on a rock face than in a mess. When he and Hannay find themselves hunting the same enemy in the Scottish hills, his politics do not soften, but his honesty and physical courage earn him a place in the confederacy. His refusal to abandon his beliefs while still doing the dangerous work makes him one of the book's most interesting moral cases.

Sir Archibald Roylance

supporting

Also known as Archie, Sir Archie, Archie Roylance

A cheerful and daring pilot and friend to Hannay.

Abel Gresson

supporting

Also known as This Gresson, Mr. Gresson, old man Gresson

A suspicious American businessman with hidden loyalties.

Andrew Amos

supporting

Also known as Andrew, IV Andrew Amos, Amos, The faithful Amos

A loyal and resourceful Scottish servant and agent.

Sir Walter Bullivant

supporting

Also known as Bullivant, Ask Sir Walter

A senior British intelligence official who directs operations.

Macgillivray

minor

Also known as Mr. Macgillivray

A high-ranking officer in British intelligence.

Cornelius Brand

minor

Also known as Mr. Brand, Mr. Cornelius Brand

A mysterious figure encountered during the mission.

Geordie Hamilton

minor

Also known as Lance-Corporal George Hamilton, Hamilton

A Scottish soldier serving under Hannay.

Captain Robert Blaikie

minor

Also known as poor old Blaikie, Albert, the real Blaikie

A British officer whose identity is assumed by another.

Lensch

minor

A German agent operating in Britain.

Mr. Linklater

minor

Also known as The bagman Linklater

A traveling salesman who aids the mission.

Clarence Donne

minor

Also known as Mr. Donne

An American journalist with suspicious motives.

M. Bommaerts

minor

Also known as the Capitaine Bommaerts

A Belgian officer and ally.

Lefroy

minor

An agent involved in the intelligence network.

Graf von Schwabing

minor

Also known as the Graf, von Schwabing, Herr Graf von Schwabing

A German nobleman and intelligence officer.

Joseph Zimmer

minor

Also known as the deserving Joseph

A German-American with divided loyalties.

Aronson

minor

Also known as Mr. Aronson

A Jewish businessman involved in the plot.

Mrs. Jimson

minor

Also known as Jimson

The proprietress of a lodging house.

Mr. McCaskie

minor

A Scottish farmer who shelters the protagonist.

Hazlitt

minor

A British intelligence officer.

Chelius

minor

A German spy and associate of Ivery.

Tam Norie

minor

Also known as Norie

A Scottish soldier in Hannay's unit.

Tombs

minor

A British soldier serving with Hannay.

Westwater

minor

A Scottish intelligence agent.

Miss Doria Wymondham

minor

Also known as Miss Doria

A kind-hearted spinster who hosts the protagonist.

Letchford

minor

A British intelligence officer.

Masterton

minor

A British intelligence officer.

David Ochterlony

minor

Also known as Davie

A young Scottish soldier.

Angus

minor

A Scottish servant or local.

Laidlaw

minor

A Scottish soldier.

Ted Broadbury

minor

Also known as Ted

A young British soldier.

Billy Strang

minor

Also known as William

A Scottish soldier.

General Mitchinson

minor

A British general.

Miss Claire Wymondham

minor

Also known as Miss Claire

Doria's younger, more flighty sister.

Otto von Schwabing

minor

Also known as Schwabing

A German officer, possibly related to the Graf.

Andra

minor

A Scottish soldier.

Wilkie

minor

A Scottish soldier.

Colonel Edgeworth

minor

A British officer.

Mr. Gussiter

minor

Also known as old Gussiter, the Gussiter lot

A local man in the village.

Macnab

minor

A Scottish soldier.

Harry Bullivant

minor

Sir Walter's son, also in intelligence.

Private Henry Tomkins

minor

Also known as Private Tomkins

A British soldier.

Fraser

minor

A Scottish soldier.

Gilkison

minor

A Scottish soldier.

Gibbons

minor

A British soldier.