The Thirty-Nine Steps

by John Buchan Narrated by David Case

Overview

One of the most original and best adventure stories ever told, with spies, thrilling chase scenes, and explosions. With an introduction by Stella Rimington.

May 1914. Britain is on the eve of war with Germany. Richard Hannay is living a quiet life in London, but after a chance encounter with a mysterious stranger he stumbles into a hair-raising adventure-a desperate hunt across the country and against the clock, pursued by the police and a cunning, ruthless enemy. Hannay's life and the security of Britain are in grave peril, and everything rests on the solution to a baffling enigma: What are the thirty-nine steps?

Editorial Reviews

AudioFile

Frederick Davidson’s voice is properly sardonic, and his supercilious British articulation is just right. The story’s extended chase scene inspired Alfred Hitchcock’s movie of the same name.”

Telegraph (London)

Buchan’s technique as a writer is simple enough and well displayed in The Thirty-Nine Steps. He understood that in a thriller…what matters above all is to keep the reader focused on what is going to happen next…It doesn’t matter that the reader has no clue where he is being taken or, when he gets there, how the thing happened as it did. All that matters is that once you’ve started, you can’t put the book down.”

author of A History of Warfare John Keegan

It is the dimension of the mysterious that makes Buchan’s writing so unfailingly compelling.”

An officer on the front in World War I

It is just the kind of fiction for here. One wants something to engross the attention without tiring the mind. The story is greatly appreciated in the midst of mud and rain and shells, and all that could make trench life depressing.”

From the Publisher

"Lethal, spare, clean and contemporary." —Guardian

Product Details

BN ID:	2940178785034
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	01/01/1994
Series:	Adventures of Richard Hannay , #1
Edition description:	Unabridged

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