The Thirty Nine Steps
In The Thirty-Nine Steps (1915), the best-known of his thrillers (made into a popular movie by Alfred Hitchcock), John Buchan introduces his most enduring hero, Richard Hannay, who, despite claiming to be an "ordinary fellow," is caught up in the dramatic and dangerous race against a plot to...
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In The Thirty-Nine Steps (1915), the best-known of his thrillers (made into a popular movie by Alfred Hitchcock), John Buchan introduces his most enduring hero, Richard Hannay, who, despite claiming to be an "ordinary fellow," is caught up in the dramatic and dangerous race against a plot to devastate the British war effort. In this, the only critical edition available, 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.
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Format: paperback
ISBN:
9780192839312 (0192839314)
Publish date: November 11th 1999
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Pages no: 119
Edition language: English
This is another entry in the "classics I never read" category. I resist the temptation to add the "Canadian" tag to it just because John Buchan went on later (much later) to become the Governor General of Canada. Nothing could be less connected to Canada than this early spy thriller. I found this ...
I originally came across The 39 Steps when it was listed in the BBC's The Big Read in 2003 as one of Britain's favourite books. Buchan's book came in 138th place. Having now read the book, I'd like to know how this book even made the list. Just HOW??? Sure this book (published in 1915) was one o...
We have had a season subscription to our local community theater group for as long as we've lived in Reading. Recently, they did an adaption of this novel of Buchan's, which was an early spy thriller, or something. Now that I have "mature" hearing, I didn't get a whole lot of the dialog. Much of it ...
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3.5 stars. A short, old-fashioned spy thriller with a touch of humour, which reminded me of a video game or role playing game; the protagonist is very resourceful, the ending scene merits four stars, descriptions of characters and nature are really pleasing. I might actually want to see one of the ...
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