STANDFAST, THE THREE HOSTAGES and THE ISLAND OF SHEEP). This was the first of Buchan's five mysteries to feature the Richard Hannay (the others being GREENMANTLE, MR. It features a British mining engineer from the southern Africa colonies, bored on vacation in London, who inadvertently learns too much about a German plot, and flees to his homeland of Scotland to avoid his pursuers. First (Colonial) Edition of Buchan's best-known book, the classic mystery that has withstood the test of time both as a book and as a film. Original light brown paper-covered boards with yapped edges, printed in black. Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood and Sons, 1915. As the obvious murderer Hannay goes on the run - he heads from London to his native Scotland but must keep his wits about him until he is able to warn the goverment hopefully before its too late! One of the classics of Twentieth Century fiction and brought numerous times to the stage, screen and radio most notably by Alfred Hitchcock. A World War I thriller whose protagonist, Richard Hannay returns to boring life in London from South Africa he has a chance encounter with an American who outlines an assassination plot who is then promptly killed in Hannay's flat. A lovely copy & much crisper than usually encountered. Unusually, the original endpapers are unsplit. Internally fresh and clean with no inscriptions. A couple of very light small translucent marks only. Housed in a bespoke quarter mid blue morocco clamshell case with raised bands & gilt titles.

The 39 Steps by John Buchan