Prester John

Description

John Buchan is mostly known for his The Thirty-Nine Steps, one of the best spy and adventure novels of the first half of the 20th century, but Prester John is not less remarkable. Written and published in 1910, the book is the first of Buchan’s novels set in South Africa and an extraordinary, adventurous story.

The protagonist of the story is David Crawfurd, a young Scotsman who grew up by the North Sea where he met his enemy, a man called Laputa. Later on, he is sent by his uncle to South Africa to become an assistant storekeeper and during the time he spends in the South African backwaters, he discovers a plot to overthrow the rule of the British Empire and is confronted with a violent and massive Zulu uprising, threatening to kill all white settlers in the area. Strangely, Crawfurd takes part in the conflict on both sides, an aspect that gives the author the opportunity to present both sides of the rebellion, the side of the colonizers just as much as the side of those being colonized.

Given the title, one would expect the novel to be about Prester John, the legendary ruler of the East, a Christian king-priest who was the hero of numerous medieval legends as the defendant of Christianity and of the power of the Emperor against the Muslims. Crawfurd’s character bears some symbolic resemblance to the character of Prester John, making the adventure-packed plot even more complex and even more exciting.

Buchan was fascinated with South Africa. Prester John is certainly the most fascinating of all his stories set in this magical area of the Dark Continent, but if you liked this one, you will certainly want some more. Luckily, Buchan was a very prolific writer, with more than 100 novels and short stories in his inventory, so you will certainly find what you are looking for.
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