The Thirty-Nine Steps and over 360,000 other books are available for Amazon Kindle – Amazon’s new wireless reading device. Learn more

 

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
 
Express Checkout with PayPhrase
What's this? | Create PayPhrase
Sorry!
X
More Buying Choices
34 used & new from $3.36
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
The Thirty-Nine Steps (Oxford World's Classics)
 
 
Share your own customer images
Search inside this book
Start reading The Thirty-Nine Steps on your Kindle in under a minute.

Don’t have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here.
 
  

The Thirty-Nine Steps (Oxford World's Classics) (Paperback)

~ (Author), Christopher Harvie (Editor) "You and I have long cherished an affection for that elementary type of tale which Americans call the 'dime novel' and which we know as..." (more)
Key Phrases: bald archaeologist, literary innkeeper, Sir Walter, Sir Harry, Portland Place (more...)
3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (50 customer reviews)
Price: $9.95 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
  Special Offers Available
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Only 4 left in stock--order soon (more on the way).

Want it delivered Thursday, November 12? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details
12 new from $4.94 22 used from $3.36

Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
  Kindle Edition $0.99 -- --
  Hardcover $10.95 $9.50 $1.33
  Paperback $5.99 $4.66 $3.71
  Paperback, November 11, 1999 $9.95 $4.94 $3.36
  Audio, CD $24.95 $24.95 --
  Audio, Download Offsite Link $11.00 or less with new Audible membership

Frequently Bought Together

The Thirty-Nine Steps (Oxford World's Classics) + Jeeves In The Morning + Ivanhoe (Penguin Classics)
Price For All Three: $39.81

Show availability and shipping details

  • This item: The Thirty-Nine Steps (Oxford World's Classics) by John Buchan

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

  • Jeeves In The Morning by P. G. Wodehouse

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

  • Ivanhoe (Penguin Classics) by Walter Scott

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

Special Offers and Product Promotions

  • This item is eligible for our 4-for-3 promotion. Eligible products include select Books, Single Copy Magazines, and Home & Garden items. Buy any 4 eligible items and get the lowest-priced item free. Here's how (restrictions apply)
  • Over a hundred thousand items are eligible for our 4-for-3 promotion. How do I find more eligible items?

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Ivanhoe (Penguin Classics)

Ivanhoe (Penguin Classics)

by Walter Scott
4.4 out of 5 stars (56)  $8.00
The Riddle of the Sands: A Record of Secret Service (Oxford World's Classics)

The Riddle of the Sands: A Record of Secret Service (Oxford World's Classics)

by Erskine Childers
4.1 out of 5 stars (33)  $13.82
Persuasion (Dover Thrift Editions)

Persuasion (Dover Thrift Editions)

by Jane Austen
4.4 out of 5 stars (112)  $2.50
Rogue Male (New York Review Books Classics)

Rogue Male (New York Review Books Classics)

by Geoffrey Household
4.2 out of 5 stars (22)  $11.90
The Talented Mr. Ripley

The Talented Mr. Ripley

by Patricia Highsmith
4.3 out of 5 stars (150)  $10.04
› Explore similar items

Editorial Reviews

Review

It is the dimension of the mysterious that makes Buchan’s writing so unfailingly compelling. -- John Keegan, from the introduction --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.


Review

It is the dimension of the mysterious that makes Buchan’s writing so unfailingly compelling. (John Keegan, from the introduction) --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

  • Paperback: 160 pages
  • Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (November 11, 1999)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0192839314
  • ISBN-13: 978-0192839312
  • Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5 x 0.4 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (50 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #708,756 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

More About the Authors

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Christopher T. Harvie
Christopher T. Harvie
John Buchan
John Buchan

Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Search Inside This Book:
Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
You and I have long cherished an affection for that elementary type of tale which Americans call the 'dime novel' and which we know as the 'shocker'-the romance where the incidents defy the probabilities, and march just inside the borders of the possible. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
bald archaeologist, literary innkeeper
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Sir Walter, Sir Harry, Portland Place, Scotland Yard, Foreign Office, Lord Alloa, Peter Pienaar, Trafalgar Lodge, East Coast, First Sea Lord, General Winstanley, Ned Ainslie, Old Country
New!
Concordance | Text Stats
Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Search Inside This Book:
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 100 books:
See all 100 books this book cites
 
100 books cite this book:
See all 100 books citing this book

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 
(3)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
See all 10 tags...

Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags
 

Customer Reviews

50 Reviews
5 star:
 (8)
4 star:
 (31)
3 star:
 (7)
2 star:
 (2)
1 star:
 (2)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.8 out of 5 stars (50 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Can be re read indefinitely!, August 7, 1997
By A Customer
This review is from: The Thirty-Nine Steps (Library Binding)
An effortless adventure classic that spans the void between dime shocker and quality literature. The rapid elaboration of the plot, that is so well known that it has passed many images into popular conciousness, is still satisfying after many reads. Richard Hannay returned to England, after making his fortune in South Africa, is unwillingly ensnared in a tortured plot to assassinate Karolides the Greek premier and so plunge Europe into war. Scudder, an American journalist turned spy has coded information relating to the plot but is murdered in Hannay's luxurious flat before he can pass on the code. Hannay, with all fingers pointing to him as the murderer escapes by Scottish express and with Scudder's coded notebook .Decamping from the train in the Sottish lowlands ( the Forth Bridge escape from the train was created with the 1935 Hitchcock film adaptation ) he is pursued across hill and dale by the police and the enemy agents intent on seizeing the notebook. In his flight he holes up in a remote wayside inn with a literary inn keeper, who can quote Kipling. It is here that he masters the code and learns Scudder's secrets. From then on it's a race to get to London and notify the authorities. One of the brilliant scenes on the way, concerns Hannay posing as road mender to evade his pursuers. To do this, Hannay explains how you must become one with the environment you're using as a cover; one of Buchans's favourite ploys and one employed in many of his novels. Hannay exchanges pursued for pursuer and tracks the agents to their escape channel and ultimately the title of the book is explained. Every reading of this splendid and timeless novel reveals further delights that may have been missed before and even well remembered scenes take on a fresh vividness and charm. My praise may seem fulsome but after experiencing 'The Thirty Nine Steps' you too will be won over
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Brisk espionage adventure, May 14, 2008
By Jordan M. Poss (Georgia, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)      
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Thirty-Nine Steps (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)
John Buchan's novel The Thirty-Nine Steps is the prototype of the modern thriller novel, what he called a "shocker." In it, Buchan introduced Richard Hannay, the prototype of the resourceful, intelligent, and tenacious hero of the modern thriller. And while the story may not be as intricate or exciting as its descendents', The Thirty-Nine Steps still succeeds at what Buchan set out to do--entertain.

The novel's story is very straightforward--Hannay, recently returned to "the Old Country" of England from a life spent in Africa, finds himself thoroughly bored with his new life in London. After an American spy is murdered in his apartment, Hannay finds himself on the run not only from the police, who believe him to be the murderer, but from a mysterious and malevolent organization called "The Black Stone." The Black Stone has a secret it wants to keep hidden, and eliminating Hannay would help them keep their cover.

From London into the Scottish countryside, pursued by detectives, sinister Germans in touring cars, and newfangled "aeroplanes," The Thirty-Nine Steps never stops moving, and even at its conclusion one barely has a chance to catch their breath. The story is so gripping I can easily see how it caught Alfred Hitchcock's attention as film material.

The novel is fast-moving and short--barely 100 pages. I read this book in a few hours at a slow deskjob. If I have to find fault with any one part of the book, it's that the conclusion--indeed, the very last half-page or so--didn't make perfect sense. I had to read it twice. But that's only a small problem for this otherwise fun and exciting book.

Almost a century of imitators and innovators in the spy and espionage genres--from Ian Fleming to Tom Clancy--owe Buchan a great debt. Buchan paved the way for these later authors with shockers like The Thirty-Nine Steps and its hero, Richard Hannay.

Recommended rainy-day reading.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A Spymaster Who Writes Spy Novels, December 20, 2003
By William Hare (Seattle, Washington) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
It was not until recently that actor Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and others learned and revealed the information that John Buchan, author of "The Thirty-nine Steps" as well as the highly successful Greenmantle series, had been the head of the secretive British domestic intelligence agency which parallels the FBI in the United States, MI-5. With that knowledge it is increasingly easier to see how the Scotland-born Buchan was able to write such penetrating spy stories, which contain such a strong tone of believability.

"The Thirty-nine Steps" traces the activities of Richard Hannay into the world of master spies. This gripping first person account details how an innocent was drawn into the grimy world of espionage after an American called Scudder who lived in his Portland Place apartment building contacted him one day, telling him he was about to be assassinated by a group of master spies. When the act is accomplished Hannay becomes a sought after potential victim as the spy group fears what he might know about their enterprise. He is also pursued by police as a murder suspect in Scudder's death.

Hannay, a former international mining engineer, tells adventure stories about his foreign experiences and uses common sense resourcefulness to prevent the police from arresting him as the suspected killer of Scudder and the spy masters who want him dead for what he might have learned from his former neighbor Scudder.

Buchan, a former mountain climber and a distinct man of action, presents Hannay as a man much like himself, using mental and physical resourcefulness to stay out of harm's path. Scotsman Buchan presents excellent descriptions of chase sequences in the Scottish moors as Hannay hides in and steps through heather and brush, eluding those who chase him.

Eventually Hannay is able to solve the case by using logic in the way of Arthur Conan Doyle's presentation of Sherlock Holmes. Buchan was influenced by Doyle. This influence is particularly notable at the story's fascinating conclusion.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars A breathless read that influenced a genre
The Thirty Nine Steps was written in 1915 and the language, attitudes and plot clearly reflect that. Read more
Published 10 hours ago by Julia Flyte

4.0 out of 5 stars An immensely entertaining adventure story!
Richard Hannay, a former Scotsman, has been in South Africa for some time working as a mining engineer. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Paul Weiss

4.0 out of 5 stars The Ur spy thriller, still diverting and a portrait of a bygone time
Published in 1915, John Buchan's The Thirty-Nine Steps gathers up the traditions of adventure stories from the late 19th and early 20th centuries and sweeps them into a future... Read more
Published 4 months ago by C. Ebeling

3.0 out of 5 stars How surprisingly different the book is from the famous Hitchcock movie.
Alfred Hitchcock's 1935 production of The Thirty-Nine Steps is one of my all-time favorite movies. I still consider it as the most quintessential Hitchcockian picture, and... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Austin Somlo

4.0 out of 5 stars A good old-fashioned spy-chase-thriller.
Englishman Richard Hannay falls into the life of a spy, quickly learning he has an aptitude for espionage. Read more
Published 9 months ago by 2things@once

4.0 out of 5 stars Not Exactly A "Blues Brothers" Car Chase
The police cars do not crash up into a pile in such gay profusion but the basic outlines are the same. Read more
Published 10 months ago by John A. Van Devender

5.0 out of 5 stars A Suspenseful Race to the Finish
This is a fabulously atmospheric yarn which starts with a murder in London, is followed by a suspenseful chase through the moors, mountains and streams of Scotland and ends with a... Read more
Published 10 months ago by George H. Garfield

4.0 out of 5 stars Spy thriller
The 1965 version reprints the original spy story of 1915. Illustrations at the head of each chapter set the mood. Hannay returned from the veld into the humdrum of London. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Asmah

4.0 out of 5 stars A fun adventure story

Buchan describes this tale as a "shocker" or what "Americans call the dime novel...where the incidents defy the probabilities and march just inside the borders of the... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Helen Simpson

3.0 out of 5 stars An upscale dime novel
Sick in bed, John Buchan was bored, which he relates in the dedication of his book, The Thirty-Nine Steps. Read more
Published 13 months ago by ninjasuperstar

Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   

So You'd Like to...

Create a guide

Product Information from the Amapedia Community

Beta (What's this?)

Look for Similar Items by Category

Look for Similar Items by Subject

Search Books by subject:





























i.e., each book must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...
 

Feedback

If you need help or have a question for Customer Service, contact us.
 Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
Is there any other feedback you would like to provide?

Your comments can help make our site better for everyone.


Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.