John Buchan, “The Thirty-Nine Steps”

In 2003, the book was listed on the BBC’s The Big Read poll of the UK’s “best-loved novels.”

Richard Hannay has just returned to England after years in South Africa and is thoroughly bored with his life in London. But then a murder is committed in his flat, just days after a chance encounter with an American who had told him about an assassination plot which could have dire international consequences. An obvious suspect for the police and an easy target for the killers, Hannay goes on the run in his native Scotland where he will need all his courage and ingenuity to stay one step ahead of his pursuers.

The Thirty-Nine Steps is an adventure novel by Scottish author John Buchan (1875-1940). It is the first of the five novels featuring Richard Hannay, an all-action hero with a stiff upper lip and a miraculous knack for getting himself out of tricky situations.

The novel has been the basis for many successful adaptations, including several films and a long-running stage play.

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