Blurb (from the jacket):
'My guest was lying sprawled on his back. There was a knife through his heart which skewered him to the floor.'
From that moment Richard Hannay's own life is under threat. A few days before, the dead man had told him of a political assassination that was shortly to take place in London and which would have terrible repercussions around the world. In mortal danger he sought refuge in Hannay's flat. Now he had been murdered and Hannay had to move quickly if he was not to suffer the same fate.
Pursued by both police and killers he heads for Scotland. There, among the Scottish moors, a deadly game of cat and mouse ensues, and Hannay needs all his resourcefulness and courage to stay one step ahead. His only hope is to persuade someone in the British Government of the impending danger. But will he be able to get to them in time and save the country from certain ruin?
The Thirty-Nine Steps is the most famous of the five novels featuring Richard hannay and established John Buchan as one of Britain's finest writers of suspense stories.