Introduction

The Thirty-Nine Steps is an adventure novel wrote by John Buchan in 1915. It is the first of five novels featuring Richard Hannay who is the main character in all of the five novels. Hannay is also a narrator in this novel. Action takes place in London and in Scotland during May and June 1914, just before the First World War started in Europe.

Richard Hannay thought that nothing exciting ever seems to be happening in England but he would soon discover that he could not be further from the truth...

Boring life in London

After a long time that he had spent in Rhodesia in Africa, Richard Hannay decided to return to Europe where he bought a flat in London. He thought that he would enjoy his peaceful and in one hand boring life, but that was not the case. As the days passed by Richard was so bored that he even considered going back to Africa. It seemed to him that nothing interesting would happen in London.

Sudden guest

Richard had just returned to his flat when suddenly a frightened man appeared and wanted to talk to Richard. It was his neighbor that lived upstairs. The man asked Richard to help him because his life was in danger. Richard was surprised but he decided to help.

Unbelievable story

The man revealed that his name is Franklin P. Scudder, he claimed that he had discovered a group of people who were working secretly to push Europe towards the war. He also claimed that they will murder the only person who can prevent the war, the Greek Premier Constantine Karolides. Richard wanted something interesting to happen in his life so he decided to believe and help Scudder.

A dead man

Scudder faked his own death so he was hiding in Richard’s flat. After a few days when Richard returned home he found Scudder death. Richard realised that he is in a difficult situation because police will suspected him for murder and the assassins will hunt him because Scudder told him the secret.

Richard decided that he needs to hide so he disguises himself as the milkman and runs to the train station. During the ride he was trying to decipher Scudder’s code book. Richard was constantly worried that someone was following him. After a while he left the train and followed a path along a little stream on foot. Richard slept in the little house next to the road and started moving again in the morning, his aim was to reach Scotland.

Hiding from the plane

He jumped out of the train before the station because there was police on the station. He was now in the middle of the empty moor where people who knew that he knew Scudder’s secret could easily spot him with the plane that they used to follow him. He found an inn where he stayed during the night.

Richard told the owner of the inn a slightly modified story so the owner decided to help him but Richard needed to escape first thing in the morning because two men were looking for him. He stole their car and drove away.

Lucky collision

Suddenly, Richard crashed into a car that was coming from the opposite direction, luckily he survived. The man in the other car was a politician and he decided to help Richard so Richard told him all about the murder, an enemy group called the Black Stone, the mysterious thirty-nine steps and all the other details that he discovered in Scudder’s book. The man called his friend in the Foreign Office and told him to listen to Richard’s story when he comes there because England was in danger.