A former Governor of Canada and a staunch Unionist, Scottish author John Buchan released "The Thirty-Nine Steps" in 1915 as the first of his five novels to feature all-action protagonist Richard Hannay. When Hannay discovers a corpse in his flat, he quickly becomes entangled in a devious plot to force the breakout of war and destroy British naval dominance - and he must run from the police who suspect him of the crime. A thriller that deals with a man on the run, trying to discover the truth and prevent a European war, it had the perfect storyline to be able to be turned into a film - and that's exactly what Alfred Hitchcock did in 1935, by Ralph Thomas in 1959, by Don Sharp in 1978, and finally by the BBC in 2008. If ever someone had a knack for getting themselves out of difficult situations, it is Hannay - who proves it for the first time in this classic.
NUFC editor for WhatCulture.com/NUFC. History graduate (University of Edinburgh) and NCTJ-trained journalist. I love sports, hopelessly following Newcastle United and Newcastle Falcons. My pastimes include watching and attending sports matches religiously, reading spy books and sampling ales.
A former Governor of Canada and a staunch Unionist, Scottish author John Buchan released "The Thirty-Nine Steps" in 1915 as the first of his five novels to feature all-action protagonist Richard Hannay. When Hannay discovers a corpse in his flat, he quickly becomes entangled in a devious plot to force the breakout of war and destroy British naval dominance - and he must run from the police who suspect him of the crime. A thriller that deals with a man on the run, trying to discover the truth and prevent a European war, it had the perfect storyline to be able to be turned into a film - and that's exactly what Alfred Hitchcock did in 1935, by Ralph Thomas in 1959, by Don Sharp in 1978, and finally by the BBC in 2008. If ever someone had a knack for getting themselves out of difficult situations, it is Hannay - who proves it for the first time in this classic.