Major-General Sir Richard Hannay is the fictional secret agent created by Scottish novelist John Buchan and further made popular by the 1935 Alfred Hitchcock film The 39 Steps.Hannay is pre-eminent among early spy-thriller heroes. Caught up in the first of these five gripping adventures just before the outbreak of war in 1914, he manages to thwart the enemy's evil plan and solve the mystery of the "thirty-nine steps".In his autobiography, Memory Hold-the-Door, Buchan suggests...

The Thirty-Nine Steps is an adventure novel by the Scottish author John Buchan. It first appeared as a serial in Blackwood's Magazine in August and September 1915 before being published in book form in October that year by William Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh. It is the first of five novels featuring Richard Hannay, an all-action hero with a stiff upper lip and a miraculous knack for getting himself out of sticky situations. The novel formed the basis for a number of film adaptations, not...

Richard HannayMajor-General Sir Richard Hannay, KCB, OBE, DSO, Legion of Honour, is a fictional secret agent and army officer created by Scottish novelist John Buchan. In his autobiography,Memory Hold-the-Door, Buchan suggests that the character is based, in part, on Edmund Ironside, from Edinburgh, a spy during the Second Boer War.[Novels]Hannay appears in several novels as a major character, including:1.The Thirty-Nine Step...

The Thirty-Nine Steps is an adventure novel by the Scottish author John Buchan. It first appeared as a serial in Blackwood's Magazine in August and September 1915 before being published in book form in October that year by William Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh. It is the first of five novels featuring Richard Hannay, an all-action hero with a stiff upper lip and a miraculous knack for getting himself out of sticky situations.The novel formed the basis for a number ...

One of the most exciting 'chase thrillers' ever published, and a huge influence not only on spy fiction, but on Hollywood as well, The 39 Steps is a book which has captured the imagination of audiences for decades. It was written by acclaimed Scottish author John Buchan, who inspired the writing of other great British novelists, including Graham Greene, Ian Fleming and John le Carré. The 39 Steps remains his most famous work. It is the first of five novels featuring Richa...

The novel of international intrigue and adventure that set the standard for the modern spy thrillerOne May evening in 1914, an ordinary Londoner named Richard Hannay receives word of an anarchist plot to assassinate the prime minister of Greece. A few nights later, the eccentric American who revealed the conspiracy is found stabbed to death in Hannay's flat. With only the dead man's encrypted notes to guide him, Hannay must try to foil the assassination attempt whil...

‘Every student of the seventeenth century in England must desire sooner or later to have his say about its greatest figure.So says John Buchan in the preface to this magnificent biography, in which he sets out to reshape the way the soldier and statesman is perceived.Born in 1599, Cromwell was a devout Puritan who, when the civil war broke out, quickly joined the Parliamentary forces.He led those forces to victory in battles that included Marston Moor and Naseby, an...

Classic British Works: 10 Books by John Buchan includes The African Colony: Studies in the Reconstruction, Greenmantle, The Half-Hearted, Huntingtower, The Moon Endureth: Tales and Fancies, Mr Standfast, The Path Of The King, Prester John, Salute To Adventurers, and The Thirty-Nine Steps. According to Wikipedia, "John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir (26 August 1875 11 February 1940) was a Scottish novelist and Unionist politician who served as Governor General of Canada. Buchan's 100 works in...

As Great Britain enters WWI, Richard Hannay is called to assist his country once again. He is sent to investigate uprisings in the Middle East. Traveling through enemy territory, he must reach Constantinople where his friend Sandy is waiting. Hannay has already proven himself once in The Thirty-Nine Steps, but will his wits be enough to save him and Britain a second time?

The Thirty Nine Steps, John Buchan’s groundbreaking espionage thriller featuring spy Richard Hannay, has been called the first great spy novel. It has been embraced by each new generation and shows no sign of losing popularity.Richard Hannay arrives in London on the eve of World War I, where he meets an American agent seeking help in stopping a political assassination. Before long, Hannay finds himself in possession of a little black book that holds the ke...

The story begins when Hannay, recently returned to England from South Africa, becomes caught up in a web of international intrigue. After receiving a cryptic warning from a mysterious American stranger, Scudder, Hannay finds himself accused of murder. With the police on his tail and unsure who to trust, Hannay goes on the run, determined to uncover the truth behind Scudder's warning.As Hannay eludes capture, he discovers a global conspiracy involving spies, political secrets, and a plot to...

Greenmantle is the second of five novels by John Buchan featuring the character of Richard Hannay, first published in 1916 by Hodder & Stoughton, London. It is one of two Hannay novels set during the First World War, the other being Mr Standfast (1919); Hannay's first and best-known adventure, The Thirty-Nine Steps (1915), is set in the period immediately preceding the war.[Literary significance and criticism]The book was very popular when ...