"The Path of the King" by John Buchan is a novel published in 1921. Through a series of loosely-connected historical episodes spanning from Viking times to nineteenth-century America, the book traces how a spark of greatness passes through generations across Norman, French, Flemish, English, and Scottish bloodlines. A golden torque becomes a ring that travels through centuries, symbolizing royal spirit that endures even when hidden among common people, ultimately revealing its destination in an unexpected American hero. (This is an automatically generated summary.)