It would be easy to call it a case of naivete on the part of Richard Hannay, but there was much more to the story. He had just returned to London after living in Rhodesia, so he wasn’t fully versed in the intrigue going on in England. That wasn’t much of a reason for Hannay allowing a man he met to live in his flat. However, that’s what he did, even though Franklin Scudder claimed to be a spy with involvement in an anarchist plot to assassinate the Greek Premier. Hannay got into a major problem when Scudder was found murdered in the apartment.

The victim left behind a codebook containing the phrase “the thirty-nine steps”, an apparent message indicating the possible planned escape by the conspirators if they were successful in the assassination plot. Although innocent, Hannay was harassed by authorities and had an extremely difficult time before he was finally cleared after explaining his lack of involvement to the Foreign Office. He was extremely convincing and wound up, not only being cleared, but commissioned a captain in the English military.

The spy group was extremely angry, and Hannay became a “man on the run”. He fortunately evaded several close calls that could have ended with his death. All this was at a time when England had just entered into the international intrigue days of WWI. You can now hear the thrilling tale of a private citizen who managed to put his country’s interests before his personal safety. This is Hannay’s story.

Originally published in 1915.