The ThirtyNine Steps, John Buchan
The ThirtyNine Steps, John Buchan
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The Thirty-Nine Steps

Author: John Buchan

Narrator: Steven Crossley

Unabridged: 4 hr 10 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 07/26/2010

Categories: Fiction, Classic

Includes: Bonus Material Bonus Material Included


Synopsis

John Buchan takes us back to Edwardian Britain on the eve of the First World War in the modern thriller The Thirty-Nine Steps. An inexplicable murder drives the innocent Richard Hannay, on the run from a manhunt that never seems to end, to hide in remote Scottish moorland. Disguise and deception are his only weapons, as he struggles to decode the clues left by the murdered man to prevent the theft of naval secrets by an unfriendly foreign power.

The best-known of Buchan's thrillers, The Thirty-Nine Steps has been continuously in print since its first publication and has been filmed three times, including the brilliant 1935 version directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The Thirty-Nine Steps was also a powerful influence on the development of the detective novel, the action romance, and the spy story.

About John Buchan

John Buchan was a Scottish diplomat, barrister, journalist, historian, poet, and novelist. During his lifetime, he produced one hundred works, including nearly thirty novels and seven collections of short stories. His personal experiences greatly influenced his war-themed novels. Alfred Hitchcock, who considered Buchan one of his favorite writers, adapted Buchan's thriller The Thirty-Nine Steps and Greenmantle into screenplays.

Buchan was born in 1875 in Peebles-Shire Scotland, the eldest son of Reverend John Buchan. He studied at the University of Glasgow in Scotland and Brasenose College in Oxford, England, where he won the prestigious Stanhope Essay Prize and Newdigate Prize. He started his writing career in the late 1890s and published his first novel, Sir Quixote of the Moors, in 1895. After a sojourn in South Africa, Buchan became a dedicated supporter of Britain's Imperial Government. In 1901, he became a barrister of the Middle Temple and a private secretary to the High Commissioner for South Africa. Two years later, Buchan started to work for the publisher Thomas Nelson and Sons, where he revitalized pocket editions of great literature.

In 1907, Buchan got married, and he and his wife had three sons and one daughter. During World War I, Buchan worked as a war correspondent before joining the army. He served on the Headquarters Staff of the British Army in France as a temporary lieutenant colonel. Later, he was appointed director of information and then director of intelligence. From 1927 to 1935, Buchan was the Conservative MP for the Scottish universities. He also served as Lord High Commissioner of the Church of Scotland. In 1935, after moving to Canada, Buchan was appointed the first Baron Tweedsmuir of Elsfield and served as governor general of Canada until his death in 1940.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Rowan on October 28, 2023

I enjoyed both the 1935 and 1959 film adaptations, so figured it was time to finally read this classic from 1915! The Thirty-Nine Steps follows Richard Hannay who is bored with life, and soon finds himself framed for murder and involved in a complex assassination plot. He goes on the run and seems to......more

Goodreads review by Bobby on November 10, 2022

Scotsman John Buchan’s fabulous The Thirty-Nine Steps is rightly considered a seminal classic in the Adventure/Spy genre, and it is for good reason it was on The Guardian’s Best 100 English Novels list at #42. This exciting tale of espionage defined the man-on-the-run tale in breathless fashion, and......more

Goodreads review by Georgia on February 17, 2023

What Hitchcock does with this novel is what Italy did for ground meat by inventing lasagna. The meat is here - a race against time and up to Scotland and back - but it might, if you love the Robert Donat film, think it needs . . . something. Salt? Pepper? A blonde? Perhaps a scene where the hero han......more

Goodreads review by Fabian on November 24, 2020

Run-of-the-mill outmoded thriller. With conventions that pile on & on like wretched clichés, "The 39 Steps" is somewhat thrilling, somewhat entertaining. A sure predecessor to "The Fugitive," it has our main man running from the law while hiding and acting the parts of the British "lower" classes. T......more

Goodreads review by Jon on February 16, 2025

The classic (and I believe first) 'a secret society is after me and no one will believe me' story line - reminded me of a kind of proto-James Bond novel. You are really invested in the situation; if things continue on the way they are going there will be a war...a war that will 'ripple' out and cove......more