Sir Walter Bullivant
Encyclopedia
Sir Walter Bullivant is a fictional character created by the Scottish
thriller writer John Buchan for his series of novels featuring the spy Richard Hannay
. He plays small but significant roles in both The Thirty-Nine Steps
and Greenmantle
.
Sir Walter is a senior mandarin
at the Foreign Office in the years leading up to the Great War. He is the archetypal spymaster
— gruff, acutely conscious of his duty, yet thoughtful and kindly towards those he sends into peril.
In Greenmantle, he recruits Hannay to perform a dangerous mission in the East as the Great Game heats up. In the first chapter of the novel, the reader also learns of Bullivant's son Harry Bullivant, who lost his life while spying in the Middle East
in the guise of a muleteer.
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
thriller writer John Buchan for his series of novels featuring the spy Richard Hannay
Richard Hannay
Major-General Sir Richard Hannay, KCB, OBE, DSO, Legion of Honour, is a fictional secret agent created by Scottish novelist John Buchan. In his autobiography, Memory Hold-the-Door, Buchan suggests that the character is based, in part, on Edmund Ironside, from Edinburgh, a spy during the Second Boer...
. He plays small but significant roles in both The Thirty-Nine Steps
The Thirty-nine Steps
The Thirty-Nine Steps is an adventure novel by the Scottish author John Buchan. It first appeared as a serial in Blackwood's Magazine in August and September 1915 before being published in book form in October that year by William Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh...
and Greenmantle
Greenmantle
Greenmantle is the second of five novels by John Buchan featuring the character of Richard Hannay, first published in 1916 by Hodder & Stoughton, London...
.
Sir Walter is a senior mandarin
Mandarin (bureaucrat)
A mandarin was a bureaucrat in imperial China, and also in the monarchist days of Vietnam where the system of Imperial examinations and scholar-bureaucrats was adopted under Chinese influence.-History and use of the term:...
at the Foreign Office in the years leading up to the Great War. He is the archetypal spymaster
Spymaster
A spymaster is a ring leader of a spy ring, run by a secret service.-Historical spymasters:*Dai Li *Francis Walsingham *James Jesus Angleton *Joseph Peters...
— gruff, acutely conscious of his duty, yet thoughtful and kindly towards those he sends into peril.
In Greenmantle, he recruits Hannay to perform a dangerous mission in the East as the Great Game heats up. In the first chapter of the novel, the reader also learns of Bullivant's son Harry Bullivant, who lost his life while spying in the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
in the guise of a muleteer.