The story places him in a desperate game of cat and mouth that will lead Hannay from his Portland. Upon his appointment, King George V, made him a peer. The first of five novels by Buchan featuring Richard Hannay, an all-action hero with a stiff upper lip and a miraculous knack for getting himself out of sticky situations, the 39 Steps pits the adventurer against German agents in a tense backdrop of a Europe weeks away from the first world war. After traveling the world in diplomatic circles, Buchan spent time running for political office, publishing a magazine and writing spy thrillers.Īfter success in many arenas and impressing many with his contributions during WWI, Buchan was appointed Governor General of Canada, where he served until his death. Buchan won a scholarship to Oxford and received several writing awards while studying classic literature. The son of a minister, Buchan was born in Perth, Scotland. John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir (1875–1940) was a Scottish novelist, short story writer, biographer and diplomat. A thrilling series of events come to an exciting conclusion.Ĭhapter 02: The Milkman Sets Out on his TravelsĬhapter 03: The Adventure of the Literary InnkeeperĬhapter 04: The Adventure of the Radical CandidateĬhapter 05: The Adventure of the Spectacled RoadmanĬhapter 06: The Adventure of the Bald ArchaeologistĬhapter 08: The Coming of the Black StoneĬhapter 10: Various Parties Converging on the Sea After a series of murders, Hannay takes up the cause when he has to go on the run. Richard Hannay, the protagonist, finds himself. A British spy in the mold of James Bond, Hannay is an action man with a polished veneer. So opens John Buchans The Thirty-Nine Steps and with it he creates a whole new genre: the adventure novel. Richard Hannay, Buchan’s hero in this 1915 thriller, stumbles across a terrorist plot to destabilize Europe.

The thirty nine steps audiobook