As war looms in Europe, Richard Hannay returns from Rhodesia to his home in London. His neighbor, an American freelance spy named Franklin Scudder, claims to know of an assassination plot to destabilize Europe. When Hannay finds Scudder dead in his flat he is drawn into a fast-paced labyrinthine adventure that takes him from the hills of Scotland to an unassuming location by the sea. The progenitor of the classic man-on-the-run thriller, The Thirty-Nine Steps first appeared as a serial adventure story in Blackwood's Magazine from August to September 1915 and in book form in October of that year. Since its publication it has never been out of print and has been frequently adapted for television, radio, theater, and film, including, quite famously, a 1935 film directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

"I returned to the City about three o’clock on that Monday afternoon pretty well disgusted with life. I had been three months in the Old Country, and was fed up with it." So opens John Buchan ́s The Thirty-Nine Steps and with it he creates a whole new genre: the adventure novel. Richard Hannay, the protagonist, finds himself reluctantly drawn into a chain of events that drags him away from the civilisation of London and into the Scottish wilderness, where he is chased both by villains and by policemen. This book has been adapted countless times, the most famous one certainly being Alfred Hitchcock’s 1935 version. Full of excitement and good humour, The Thirty-Nine Steps is a modern classic you’ll never want to put down. John Buchan (1875-1940) was a Scottish writer, historian and unionist. Born in Perth, he grew up in Fife where he developed the keen love for the Scottish nature that can be found in his work. After graduating from Oxford with a degree in Classics, he became the personal secretary of Alfred Milner, the Secretary of State of War and for the Colonies. Later he wrote for the British War Propaganda Bureau and was a correspondent in France for The Times. In 1935, he became viceregal representative in Canada, where he passed away five years later. He wrote throughout his life, leaving behind him hundreds of works, including novels, short shorties, and biographies of famous men such as Walter Scott and Oliver Cromwell, and he was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 1928. Yet Buchan remains most famous for his spy thriller adventures, which have delighted readers for generations.

On 23 September 1878 Stevenson set out from Le Monastier in the Haut Loire, to tramp through the wild region of the Cevennes. His only companion was a small donkey to carry basic necessities, and a commodious "sleeping sack". In the next 12 days, at a pace dictated by the donkey and carrying most of the supplies himself, he travelled 120 miles across rivers, mountains and forests. His stylish and witty account was published in 1879.

A rich and idle man confronts his dead mistress's husband in this psychological novel of duality. Powerful and accessible, it offers a captivating and revealing exploration of love, guilt, and hatred.

Hanney, an expatriated Scot, returns from a long stay in South Africa to his flat in London. One night he is buttonholed by an American who appears to know of an anarchist plot to destabilise Europe, and claims to be in fear for his life. Hannay lets the American hide in his flat, and returns later to find that another man has been found shot dead in the same building, apparently a suicide. Four days later Hannay finds the American stabbed to death...

John Buchan's "The Thirty-Nine Steps" is a gripping espionage thriller following Richard Hannay through a web of international intrigue and political conspiracy.

Many argue that John Buchan's The Thirty-Nine Steps (originally published as a serial in August and September 1915 in Blackwood's Magazine) is one of the most influential thrillers ever written. The novel follows Richard Hannay after his return to London from a trip to South Africa. Initially, he is incredibly bored when he gets back, but when he learns of an assassination plot that could devastate the political balance of Europe, his life becomes very complex. Pursued by the police, he flees to Scotland, along the way trying to figure out what exactly the 39 steps are and how they relate to the assassination plot -- if they do at all.