As Director of Intelligence in the Ministry of Information John Buchan was in a position to gain knowledge about the First World War and the investigations that took place. Richard Hannay appears in 4 novels by John Buchan (1875-1940). He is a prominent figure in Greenmantle, Thirty-Nine Steps, Three Hostages and Mr. Standfast. This spy thriller has a fantastic plot in which a terrorist group attempts to start a war between England and Germany, and the heroic attempts of a British engineer to disrupt the plan.