Adventurer Richard Hannay just returned from South Africa is thoroughly bored with London life-until he is accosted by a mysterious American who warns him of an assassination plot that could completely destabalise the fragile political balance of Europe. Initially sceptical Hannay nonetheless harbours the man-but one dayreturns home to find him murdered... An obvious suspect Hannay flees to his native Scotland pursued by both the police and a cunning ruthless enemy. His life and the security of Britan are in grave peril and everything rests on the solution to a baffling enigma: what are the 'thirty nine steps?'