The Thirty-nine Steps

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SummaryLondon, May 1914. Europe is close to the First World War. Richard Hannay, a Scotsman raised in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) is living in London, and finds American Franklin Scudder at his door. Scudder is a photographer and freelance spy and has information about a plot by the German spy ring, the Black Stone, to steal the British plans for war. Hannay later finds Scudder dead in his flat and decides he must carry on Scudder’s work. With both German spies and the police after him, Hannay must solve the riddle of the thirty-nine steps alone.

Chapter 1: Scudder is chased by German spies so he stops at Hannay’s flat and asks him for help, since he needs to a place to hide. Scudder tells Hannay that these spies are running after him because he knows about their plot to murder Primer Minister Karolides, who is coming to London on June 15th. Hannay lets Scudder hide in his flat for several days and Scudder warns him about two dangerous German spies, Julia and an old man. Scudder asks Hannay to continue the fight if something happens to him. The following day, Hannay finds Scudder dead.

Chapter 2: Hannay decides to continue Scudder’s work, but he needs to run away to Scotland before Scudder’s enemies, the German spies, catch him. So he leaves his flat dressed up as a milkman. He then gets on a train to Galloway taking with him Scudder’s little book.

Chapter 3: While Hannay travels by train to Galloway, he reads Scudder’s notes and discovers that he used a special code. The next day, on a train to Dumfries, he reads the newspaper and finds out that the London police have discovered Scudder’s body and that they were looking for him, so he decides to get off the train. Hannay runs towards the river and up the hills and sees a plane flying

around the place. He realises that the German spies are after him. He walks until he reaches an inn. The young innkeeper is a writer, so Hannay decides to tell him his story but asks him not to do anything before June 15th. The German spies come to the inn looking for Hannay, but he manages to escape.

Chapter 4: Hannay drives away in a stolen car. Now that he has learnt how to read Scudder’s code, he knows that the Germans are planning to kill Karolides to have an excuse to start the war. The words “thirty-nine steps” are everywhere in Scudder’s notebook but he does not understand what they mean. He realises that the local police and the German plane are chasing him so he jumps out of the car and lets it fall into a river. Hannay is lucky to be helped by a young man, Sir Harry, who happens to be the nephew of the Foreign Office Secretary, so Hannay tells him his story. Sir Harry decides to help Hannay by sending a letter to his uncle to schedule a meeting with him before June 15th.

Chapter 5: Hannay is chased by the German plane, so he hides for the night. He meets a roadman, Turnbull, and takes his place after changing clothes with him. Hannay takes over Turnbull’s work. The three German spies who previously followed him to the young man’s inn see him and interrogate him but they do not notice who he is. Then Hannay runs into Jopley, a man he knew, and they both escape in Jopley’s car.

Chapter 6: Hannay, still disguised as Turnbull, finds that several policemen are searching for him, so he decides to escape across the countryside. Hannay reaches an old man’s house and the man tells him to hide inside. Soon Hannay realises the old man is Scudder’s worst enemy. The old man knows who Hannay really is and he ignores Hannay’s lies and stories. Hannay is locked up in a room where he finds dynamite. He blows up the room and manages to run out of the house and hide on a bird-house roof.

Chapter 7: Hannay walks to Turnbull’s cottage to look for Scudder’s notebook. He takes a train back to London but gets off to meet the Foreign Office Secretary, Sir Walter. Hannay tells Sir Walter about the German plot, Scudder’s secret code and his own story. Sir Walter tells Hannay that he knows who he really is and that the police are not looking for him any more. Hannay and Sir Walter work on Scudder’s code and they are shocked to hear that Karolides has been killed.

John Buchan

The Thirty-nine Steps

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Chapter 8: Sir Walter tells Hannay that he suspects that there is a German spy in the Foreign Office or in the War Office. Both men go to Scotland Yard. The police tells Hannay he is a free man. But when Hannay leaves, he has a bad feeling and goes back to Sir Walter’s house. There he runs into the First Lord, a man he has never seen before and yet looks familiar. He soon realises that the man is part of the Black Stone disguised as Lord Alloa.

Chapter 9: Sir Walter and the other top politicians and military men meeting in his house are shocked by the news about the Black Stone. They now have to change their plans since the Black Stone know everything about them. All the men realise that they have to prevent the German spies from leaving England by ship. Suddenly, Hannay remembers Scudder’s notes about the tides and the ‘thirty-nine steps’. The men discover that Scudder’s code refers to a place in Kent and they all agree that the search operation should be in Hannay’s hands

Chapter 10: Once in Kent, Hannay and his men go to the place known as the Ruff and find the house they were looking for, Trafalgar Lodge. Hannay sees three men in the house who look like British men but, he suspects, are in fact the three German spies. Hannay enters the house ready to arrest the men but they pretend not to be the spies. The three men try to escape but Hannay finally manages to catch them and send them to jail.

Background and themes

John Buchan wrote his Hannay stories as entertainment or, as he called them, ‘shockers’. He described a ‘shocker’ as an adventure where the events in the story are unlikely and the reader is only just able to believe that they really happened. His experience of life, however, had already taught him that the most unlikely stories are more believable than the real facts. In his Hannay novels, Buchan cleverly mixes the familiar and the frightening or the unexpected. The ingredients of the Hannay novels are simple: the government is being threatened, Hannay’s life is in danger, but our hero saves the situation and we are all safe again. Some of Buchan’s later adventure stories become more like sermons he uses a story to illustrate an important moral point. Even in The Thirty-nine Steps, Buchan holds up Richard Hannay as an example of an ordinary man who puts his country’s interests before his own safety.

Although Hannay describes himself as ordinary, he is the typical English gentleman hero – well educated, rich, strong, fit and healthy, looking for fun and adventure. Spies have always been important in time of war, particularly in finding out advance information about the enemy’s plans. At the time of the First World War plans were made in great detail. It is interesting to note that by 1915 Britain had copies of the three main German code-books which remained in use by Germany until 1917.

Three film versions of The Thirty-nine Steps have been made, most notably in 1935 by Alfred Hitchcock.

Discussion activities

Before reading 1 Imagine: A Spy on the Run Put students into groups and ask them the following: This book takes place mostly in the countryside of

Scotland. The hero of the story is escaping from his enemies. There are rivers, valleys, a few groups of trees, and quiet houses. Imagine you are trying to cross a big area of countryside like this. The police are following you. Where will you hide? Where will you sleep? When will you travel? How will you eat?

2 Discuss: What are ‘The Thirty-nine Steps’? After reading the Introduction, discuss with your

students what they imagine ‘The Thirty-nine Steps’ are.3 Predict: The Thirty-nine Steps has been made into several films.

Divide the class into those who have / haven’t seen any of them. Have each group retell or predict what the story is about using the words below:

arrest code cottage detonator dynamitelord spy politics war minister telegram

tide secret murder escape

Tell students to look up the words they do not know in the Word List at the back of the book.

4 Tie in with films: What are they saying? If you have access to video or DVD, watch the first

three to five scenes of any of the film versions of The Thirty-nine Steps with the sound off. Have students choose one of the scenes and imagine what the characters say. Play the film again and check whose guess was closest to the original.

Chapters 1–2While Reading5 Discuss: A good decision? Have students discuss these questions in pairs after

reading the first three pages in the story: Why is Hannay interested in Scudder’s story? Is Hannay’s decision to hide Scudder good? What can happen to both of them?

The Thirty-nine Steps

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Teacher’s noteslevel 3 Teacher Support Programme

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6 Role play: Different clothes, different results Have students work in groups of three and get ready

to dramatise this scene after reading page 7. You can use the following instructions: Imagine that, instead of changing clothes with the milkman, Hannay goes to the police when he finds Scudder’s body. One of you is Hannay. The others are the police. Hannay tells his story. The police ask questions. They probably don’t believe him.

7 Write: The Secret Notebook Get students to write out what Scudder has written

in his notebook: Imagine you open Scudder’s secret book. Write what the first page says.

After reading8 Guess. Tell students to work in pairs and to imagine

they are either Hannay, Scudder, the milkman or Karolides: Work with another student. Take turns to describe what you are like, what you do and how you feel. Can the other guess who you are?

9 Research: First World War Give your students the following instructions: In groups look up information in your library or online

about what happened in the months before the First World War between England and Germany.

Chapters 3–4While Reading10 Write: The mysterious spy Tell students to imagine they are the young innkeeper

in Chapter 3: Hannay has told you his secret and you have seen the spies following him. Write how you would start his story in your first mystery book.

11 Pair work: A letter asking for help Students work in pairs on the letter in Chapter 4. Read the letter on page 24 again and imagine you are

Sir Harry. Add more information that your uncle should know about the mysterious Mr Hannay.

After reading12 Discuss: A good spy? Tell your students to discuss Hannay as a spy and to

make a list of his strong and weak points. 13 Write: A secret code Ask students to work in pairs. They make a code with

letters, numbers or pictures standing for letters: Work with another student. Write a message using your code and give a key word, giving the real letters and the code version. Give your message to another pair. Who can understand the message first?

Chapters 5–6While reading14 Discuss: A different man? Ask students to tell you how Hannay turns himself

into Turnbull (see page 28). What does he do to his clothes, and his hands? What does he borrow from Turnbull? What advice does he remember from his old friend in Rhodesia?

After reading 15 Pair work: A new Hannay Ask students to work in pairs. They choose a person

for Hannay to turn into – not somebody from the story. Each pair tells the class about their new Hannay: With another student, decide how Hannay changes his face, his clothes, his hair, his voice and the way he acts. Who does he look like? What’s his new job?

16 Predict: Hannay’s next steps? Ask students to work in small groups and imagine

what will happen to Hannay from now on: Will the spies follow him or think him dead? Where will he go? Who will he ask for help? Where will he hide?

Chapters 7–8While reading17 Write: A terrible item of news Tell students to re-read page 50: In pairs, imagine that

Sir Walter receives the news about Karolides‘s murder in a telegram. Write down what it says.

After reading18 Discuss: a true story or a lie? Tell students to work in small groups and discuss the

following: In Chapter 7, Hannay visits Sir Walter and tells him his story. How true is it? How does Hannay change his own story? How many times has Hannay changed his story when different people are listening to it?

19 Group work: Get students to retell part of the story changing the point of view: You are one – or some – of the members of the Black Stone. You’ve followed Hannay everywhere. Tell what happened in Chapters 7 and 8 from your own point of view.

Chapters 9–10While reading20 Discuss: What did they do wrong? Tell students to discuss this: What mistakes did the

Germans make? Why did Hannay discover them?21 Write: A different ending? Tell students to work in groups on the following:

Change the end of the story. Decide what things in Chapters 9 and 10 need to change.