A couple of days later Hannay returns home to find Scudder dead with a knife through his heart. Hannay lets Scudder hide in his flat, and sure enough the next day another man is discovered having apparently committed suicide in the same building. Scudder claims to be following a ring of German spies called the Black Stone who are trying to steal British plans for the outbreak of war. Scudder explains that he has faked his own death to avert suspicion. Scudder, a freelance spy, and remarks that he is dead, which holds Hannay’s attention. The man reveals his name to be Franklin P. The man appears to know of an anarchist plot to destabilize Europe, beginning with a plan to assassinate the Prime Minister of Greece, Constantine Karolides, during his forthcoming visit to London. John Buchan was a Scottish diplomat, barrister, journalist, historian, poet and novelist, born in Perth in 1875. Quantity: 1 Add to Basket Condition: Good. This man was more than a spy in his foul way he had been a patriot. The Thirty-Nine Steps John Buchan Published by Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1960 Seller: World of Rare Books, Goring-by-Sea, United Kingdom Seller Rating: Contact seller First Edition Used - Hardcover Condition: Good US 9.17 Convert currency US 5.78 Shipping From United Kingdom to U.S.A. A white fanatic heat burned in them, and I realised for the first time the terrible thing I had been up against. One night he is buttonholed by a stranger, a well-travelled American, who claims to be in fear for his life. They had been hooded like a bird of prey, and now they flamed with a hawks pride. The 39 Steps is set during May and June 1914 war was evident in Europe, Richard Hannay, the protagonist and narrator, an expatriate Scot, returns to his new home, a flat in London, after a long stay in Rhodesia to begin a new life. We know the Buchan formula well, although few may remember it was he who set the mold: take an apparently ordinary man, and let him be drawn into a mystery he only vaguely understands give him a task to perform, and set obstacles in his path see that he cannot turn to established authority, see that he cannot be certain who he can trust – and then, set the clock ticking.

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