John S. Blenkiron

Blenkiron, as described by the author, is a "big fellow with a fat, sallow clean shaven face." He also has "a pair of full sleepy eyes". Christopher Hitchens calls him "a fat and rich but nonetheless brave and humorous figure". In the last chapter of Mr Standfast (the third Hannay Novel by Buchan) Blenkiron achieves his desire to participate in "a real high-class Armageddon". Hannay has him inspanned as a battalion-commander in British uniform, leading the actions of a scratch American Engineer-company and other emergency troops put together in a hurry. Blenkiron and his companies successfully stem at a vital time, the strong German advance towards Amiens, and so he prevents the loss of newly-dug trench lines - a loss which would mean disaster for the whole front. ==Evaluation==

According to Charles Moore, Blenkiron's presence in Greenmantle is due to the book being written with the purpose of getting the United States to join the Allies in World War I. This happened in 1917, the year after the book's publication. H. E. Taylor notes that Buchan portrays Blenkiron positively as a businessman. He suggests that Buchan "may have felt more comfortable delineating a positive business character as a foreign national who, by reason of his absurd pastiche accent and diction, could not in any case aspire to gentrification." ==References==