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Greenmantle

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Greenmantle

By: John Buchan
Narrated by: Robert Whitfield
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About this listen

 In Greenmantle, Richard Hannay, the South African mining engineer and war hero first introduced in Buchan's The Thirty-Nine Steps, travels across war-torn Europe in search of a German plot and an Islamic messiah.

He is joined by three others: John S. Blenkiron, an American who is determined to battle the Kaiser; Peter Pienaar, an old Boer Scout; and the colorful Sandy Arbuthnot, who is modeled on Lawrence of Arabia. Disguised, they travel through Germany to Constantinople and the Russian border to confront their enemies, the hideous Stumm and the evil beauty Hilda von Einem. Their success or failure could change the outcome of the First World War.

Spy guy: listen to more of Hannay's exploits in The Thirty-Nine Steps, which was the source for one of Alfred Hitchcock's classic films.(P)1996 Blackstone Audio Inc. Classics Espionage European Literary History & Criticism Spies & Politics Thriller & Suspense World Literature War

Critic reviews

"A specialty audio, a classic, but definitely a 'thinking man's audio'. Bravo, Blackstone Audiobooks, which seems to find these gems!" ( KLIATT)
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This a great adventure story it keeps guessing to the end and the character's are grat

Greenmantle

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My favourite of the Richard Hannay stories. Completely brilliant. I’ll be listening to this again for sure. The narrator is excellent.

Very well read!

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Get past the racism, xenophobia, misogyny and imperialism and this is a great story. In its time this was a tale of patriotic daring do and it still is, but to a 21st century readership it is also a gateway into the way the world was and thought in 1916.

Dated story but a great one.

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I'm sure I read this in my teens and enjoyed it so I'm not sure if the narrator let's it down or that it feels so dated. Some of the language would be seen as offensive but it is a good reminder that even the heroes of yesteryear weren't very PC either. I struggled to keep up and some of the odd coincidences that need to happen to keep the story going are far fetched.

Difficult Listen

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A bit too long? A bit too far-fetched (dare one even suggest "contrived")?

After loving The 39 Steps, this story let me down somewhat. It's hard to put my finger on exactly why, but I just didn't empathise with the characters so much. Even Hannah.

Well read, if a slightly cool and standoffish delivery - but that wasn't the problem. That was the story itself. Anyway, on to Mr Standfast with high hopes!

I really wanted to love it, but...

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