THIRTY-NINE STEPS

John Buchan's adventure tale The Thirty-Nine Steps is set in Scotland

It's the first of five books about Richard Hannay, an all-action hero with a stiff upper lip and a miraculous talent for pulling himself out of tight spots. Several successful adaptations of the work have been made, including several film adaptations and a long-running stage production. [1] In 2003, the BBC's The Big Read poll of the UK's "best-loved novels" included the book.

John Buchan composed The Thirty-Nine Steps while suffering from a duodenal ulcer, which he had for the rest of his life. Buchan's son, William, later claimed that the book's title came from the author's daughter counting the stairs at St Cuby, a private nursing home on Cliff Promenade in Broadstairs, where Buchan was recuperating.

The beach was accessible via a wooden staircase. My six-year-old sister, who had only recently learned to count properly, proceeded down them and said joyfully, "There are 39 stairs." There were originally 78, but he cut the number in half to make a more appealing title. When the original stairs were replaced, one of them was shipped to Buchan, complete with a brass plaque.