Remembering a forgotten man and his forgotten book

He was once a major figure in British colonial politics, the governor-general of Canada, and author of The Thirty-Nine Steps, which Alfred Hitchcock made into a famous film. But today the name John Buchan prompts no ripples of recognition. He is a figure from a fast-receding past — a time when dash and daring were recognized and revered, when Kipling and Stevenson were read and remembered.