When Richard Hannay returns from a long stay in Africa he becomes caught up in a sensational plot to precipitate a pan- European war.After the discovery of a corppse in his flat, Hannay flees the attentions of both the conspirators and the forrce of the law and the pursuit turns into a thrilling manhunt.Set agains the hot summer which precedes the outbreak of the First Wor War The Thirty nine Steps is one of the finest and most highly admired thrillers ever written.