The Three Hostages

"Dick, have you ever considered what diabolical weapon that can be—using all the channels of modern publicity to poison and warp men's minds? It is the most dangerous thing on earth. You can use it cleanly—as I think on the whole we did during the War—but you can also use it to establish the most damnable lies. Happily in the long run it defeats itself, but only after it has sown the world with mischief."

"He said that the great offensives of the future would be psychological, and he thought the Governments should get busy about it and prepare their defence...He considered that the most deadly weapon in the world was the power of mass-persuasion, and he wanted to meet it at the source, by getting at the mass-persuader."

This show more remarkably prescient book was published in 1924, but the author seemed to have a direct line on today. Sir Richard Hannay believes he has retired from service to his country, only to be pulled back in by a most desperate case. People seem to agree that this is the best of the Hannay novels and while I haven't yet read them all, it's certainly my favorite so far. Despite the highly technical climax where Hannay is scaling cliffs and outwitting his enemy with his woodcraft, I found this a gripping spy-thriller. Yes, it has its share of politically incorrect references and language, and your sensitivity to that content may vary. But if you can get past that, there's a fine adventure here. show less

Ultimately thin stuff but strangely compelling. I read to the end though really I set out to dip in and test the water. The eponymous three hostages play only marginal roles. The main theme is Hannay out to get the mastermind behind the hostage taking (the purpose of which is rather unclear, taking over the world or something like that) This mastermind, of course, has a foreign name, but is a member of Parliament and of every club you might care to name and generally rather charming, if evil. He’s acquired a hypnotic technique which has enabled him to gather quite a crowd of collaborators. Hannay undergoes the hypnotic process but undercover keeps his own mind clear (which stretches the imagination). The finale is even more show more improbable. They’re out in the mountains somewhere in Scotland. Mastermind comes chasing after Hannay (in person as they always do in fiction, rather than sending an agent). Hannay climbs up some kind of rocky promontory . Mastermind manages a lucky shot to his hand so our hero has lost his own weapon and much blood. Mastermind clambers up after him but gets into difficulty. Hannay, being a decent sort of chap and in a forgiving mood, drops him a rope with his one still functioning hand. Mastermind doesn’t quite manage and hurtles to his death. Hannay is found and rescued next morning, somewhat weak from his experience. He was already weak with loss of blood the previous evening but, no worries, he’s managed not to bleed to death and returns to his quiet retirement.
The text is elegantly written apart from all the nasty people being foreigners dubbed with the classic nicknames: dago, nigger, et cetera. The hypnotic technique comes from somewhere in central Asia. Lots of clubs and being a sportsman equates with being a morally upright person. show less

gripping adventure, but one must put aside its pervasive racism against any ethnic group other than the scots and english. other than that, issues and world trouble-spots seem strangely contemporary, given that the book was written in 1924. in its own nearer future, seems to predict new german war, economic collapse, etc.

I read this many years ago, but this time saw all the easy racism, the false narratives of WWI that enabled appeasement. From the perspective of wanting to understand why the Brits engaged in appeasement, this is a perfect book.

While a few aspects of this 4th installment in the Richard Hannay series show their age (this was first published in 1924), most of it is surprisingly still relevant. The use of propaganda to get fanatics or troubled youngsters to stir up trouble is something we can see today.

The only thing that really holds me back from a 5 star rating is the abruptness of the ending. I would have liked one or two more pages although in reality, there was nothing more that needed to be said.

Complete with an introduction by Christopher Hitchings that firmly places this in the 'guilty pleasure' category, Buchan digs out Richard Hannay from his comfortable retreat in the country to - yet again - be involved in devious global plots. Hannay's utterly unimpressionable nature turns out to be a major advantage as he proves impervious to the most dastardly of attempts to influence and overpower him, while at the same time - and with help from his old friends and plucky spouse - solving devilishly cunning tricks and ruses. I agree with Hitch - it's a lot of fun...

A great adventure story - fantastic characters, a real page turner. From a plot perspective, this is a brilliant book, my only plot criticism is that I found the last couple of chapters had a bit of a 'tacked-on-as-an-afterthought' feel to them.

Others have mentioned the pervasive racism in The Three Hostages. I would say that this is more marked than I remember it being in the first three books of the series. However, if you can overlook this, it's a great read.