![]() ![]() In this, the only critical edition, Christopher Harvie's introduction interweaves the writing of the tale with the equally fascinating story of how John Buchan, publisher and lawyer, came in from the cold and, via The Thirty-Nine Steps, ended the war as spy-master and propaganda chief. The best-known of Buchan's thrillers, The Thirty-Nine Steps has been continuously in print since first publication and has been filmed three times, most notably by Alfred Hitchcock in 1935. However, that 1915 shocker, in which adventurer Richard Hannay foils a German plot on the eve of World War I, was followed by a quartet of sequels The Three Hostages is the fourth Hannay tale, but the first to be set post-armistice. Hannay is hunted across the Scottish moors by police and spy-ring alike, and must outwit his intelligent and pitiless enemy in the corridors of Whitehall and, finally, at the site of the mysterious thirty-nine steps. Anyone remotely familiar with Scottish politician/author John Buchan knows he penned The Thirty-Nine Steps. In it he introduces his most famous hero, Richard Hannay, who, despite claiming to be an 'ordinary fellow', is caught up in the dramatic race against a plot to devastate the British war effort. One of the most popular adventure stories ever written, The Thirty-Nine Steps established John Buchan as the original thriller writer and inspired many. ![]() John Buchan wrote The Thirty-Nine Steps while he was seriously ill at the beginning of the First World War. ![]()
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