THE THIRTY-NINE STEPS

The Thirty-Nine Steps is a 1915 adventure novel by the Scottish author, John Buchan, first published by William Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh. It was serialized in All-Story Weekly issues of 5 and 12 June 1915, and in Blackwood's Magazine (credited to "H. de V.") between July and September 1915, before being published in book form in October of that year. It is the first of five novels featuring Richard Hannay, an all-action hero with a stiff upper lip and a knack for getting himself out of tricky situations. In 2003, the book was listed on the BBC's Big Read poll of Britain's "best-loved novels." This novel was Buchan’s first "shocker", as he called it — a story combining personal and political dramas. It marked a turning point in Buchan's literary career and introduced his adventuring hero Richard Hannay. He described a "shocker" as an adventure where the events in the story are unlikely and the reader is only just able to believe that they really happened. The novel has been adapted for at least three films, a stage play, television, a video game, and dozens of radio broadcasts.