Forever associated with the classic thriller The Thirty-nine Steps, Buchan wrote over a hundred books, including a series of 'shockers', children's books, biographies, tales of the supernatural and what many regard as the finest history ever written of the Great War. A man of formidable energy, he also had a distinguished career in public life. He ran the Ministry of Information during the First World War, and after eight years as a Conservative MP he ended his career as Lord Tweedsmuir, Governor General of Canada. Andrew Lownie draws on private papers not used before, painting a compelling picture of Buchan's life and a panoramic view of British political, social and literary circles during the first half of the twentieth century.