The Thirty-Nine Steps

Buchan GCMG GCVO CH PC Baron Tweedsmuir, His Excellency The Right Honourable John

ISBN 10: 1853260800 / ISBN 13: 9781853260803

Published by Wordsworth Editions, 1993

About this Item

Condition: (see pics.) The book has been read and does not look new, but is still in a very good, clean and tight condition. Synopsis: When Richard Hannay returns from a long stay in Africa, he becomes caught up in a sensational plot to precipitate a pan-European war. After the discovery of a corpse in his flat, Hannay flees the attentions of both the conspirators and the forces of the law, and the pursuit turns into a thrilling manhunt. Set against the hot summer which precedes the outbreak of the First World War, The Thirty-nine Steps is one of the finest and most highly admired thrillers ever written.

Seller Inventory # ABE-1689502947802

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Thirty-Nine Steps
• Publisher: Wordsworth Editions
• Publication Date: 1993
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1853260800
• ISBN 13: 9781853260803
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: Very Good
• Seller catalogs:
  • Classics
  • Thriller

About this title

Synopsis

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.

About the Author

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.