The Thirty-Nine Steps

How do you turn the FIrst World War into an adventure novel?

This month Jessica, Angus and Chris discuss John Buchan’s 1915 novel The Thirty-Nine Steps. Along the way they discuss the importance of the Scottish countryside, the deviousness of espionage, and why you should never get in a car with Richard Hanney.

WARNING: This episode contains references to racist language and ideas from the early 20th century.

References

John Buchan, The Thirty-Nine Steps (1915)
John Buchan, Greenmantle (1916)
John Buchan, Mr Standfast (1919)

Alfred Hitchcock, The 39 Steps (1935)
Ralph Thomas, The 39 Steps (1959)
Don Sharp, The 39 Steps (1978)
James Hawes, The 39 Steps (2008)

Orson Welles, The 39 Steps (1938)

Ben Schott, Jeeves and the King of Clubs (2018)
Sapper, Bulldog Drummond (1920)

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Professor of Modern British History at Leeds University. My research interests lie at the intersection of the histories of gender, particularly masculinity, medicine and warfare.

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A historian focusing on the First World War and popular representations of warfare. I received my PhD from the University of Sussex in 2013. My thesis examined relations between British and French soldiers during the First World War.

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A Postgraduate Researcher at Leeds University. My current research explores all the men who appeared before the North Riding Military Appeal Tribunal, 1916-18.