The Thirty-Nine Steps

The Thirty Nine Steps by John Buchan
Richard Hannay finds a corpse in his flat, and becomes involved in a plot by spies to precipitate war and subvert British naval power. The resourceful victim of a manhunt, he is pursued by both the police and the ruthless conspirators. The Thirty-Nine Steps is a seminal ‘chase’ thriller, rapid and vivid. It has been widely influential and frequently dramatised: the film directed by Alfred Hitchcock became a screen classic. This engaging novel also provides insights into the inter-action of patriotism, fear and prejudice.

John Buchan was born in Perth, Scotland on 26th August 1875, the son of a Free Church of Scotland minister. He was educated at Glasgow University and Brasenose College, Oxford. After a brief legal career Buchan simultaneously began both his writing career and his political and diplomatic career, serving as a private secretary to the colonial administrator of various colonies in Southern Africa where he worked with the High Commission on reconstruction after the Boer War. He eventually wrote propaganda for the British war effort in the First World War. Once he was back in civilian life Buchan was elected Member of Parliament for the Combined Scottish Universities, but he spent most of his time writing. As Baron Tweedsmuir he was awarded the post of Governor-General of Canada from 1935-40. He died in Canada on the 11th February 1940. Whilst he received great deference from the English establishment his loyalties were always torn between England and the country of his birth, and his literary work is seen to reflect this. He wrote a great deal of non-fiction work, including biographies of Isaak Walton, Montrose, and Walter Scott, but is best known for his adventure stories featuring Richard Hannay. Hannay first appeared in The Thirty-nine Steps, followed by Greenmantle, Mr. Standfast, The Three Hostages and The Island of Sheep. All five stories are collected together into one volume in the Wordsworth edition, The Complete Richard Hannay Stories.