The Thirty-Nine Steps

About the book

Richard Hannay is bored with London when a stranger arrives with an alarming account of an international conspiracy. Events soon make remaining in his rooms impossible, sending him north into a life of pursuit, disguise, and hurried improvisation. Buchan gives the adventure momentum through landscapes that can offer refuge one moment and expose the traveller the next. Hannay must read social situations quickly, deciding when to invent a role and when to risk another person's trust. The plot joins espionage to the pleasures of movement through open country, with small practical decisions carrying large consequences. Its first-person voice keeps danger close and explanation provisional. The novel asks its hero to turn resourcefulness into judgment before the limited time available runs out.

• Pursuit
• Disguise
• Trust under pressure

Why read it

For a brisk escape-and-investigation narrative whose changing landscapes are part of the suspense.

English text