Puffin Classics Prisoner Of Zenda [Paperback]

Really enjoyed this book. I was amazed at the number of people that hadn't heard of it as I was walking around reading it. Its a sort of combination between 'The Three Musketeers' and 'The Prince and the Pauper.' Its a fun adventure tale with some interesting characters and some fun dialogue, and mostly just fun action adventure scenes. Not a hard read at all (though some of the action adventure I did have a hard time following, but sometimes I do get bored by that stuff) definately makes me want to go out and see the movie adaptation, see how certain things get played out in the 3d world.

The Prisoner of Zenda, Anthony Hope

Rudolf Rassendyll is a 29 year old bachelor gentleman with red hair and a nose that is unusual for his family, but comes from the Elphburg side (the royal house of Ruritania). This came from an 18th century scandal. Rudolf had been to a German university, and spoke French as well as his English. He decides to visit Ruritania for the Coronation. Rudolf stops at Zenda rather than the crowded capital of Strelsau, and stays at a small inn. There is a conflict between Prince Rudolf and his half-brother Duke Michael. When walking through the woods, Rassendyll meets Prince Rudolf. But a problem arises that will prevent Prince Rudolf from appearing at his Coronation that day. Colonel Sapt thinks of a solution: Rassendyll will double for the Prince at the Coronation! We learn that the poverty-stricken people of Old Town favor Duke Michael. The Coronation succeeds with no one suspecting a double. But when Rassendyll leaves to return to England a new problem arises. Rassendyll must continue to act as the King of Ruritania.

The story tell show Rassendyll, Sapt, and the others succeed in rescuing Prince Rudolf from captivity, and restore him to the throne and marriage with his cousin Princess Flavia (also of the Blood Royal). Duty triumphs over love, Flavia will stay and Rassendyll will go, never to return. It recalls pre-WW I Europe when no passports were needed to travel freely. This swashbuckling tale of adventure is well suited to a film where there is more action that talk. The limited number of characters would keep costs down.

The book "Royal Babylon" by Karl Shaw tells the uncensored history of European royalty, not the bowdlerized version in this novel. The earlier reference to a position in the Diplomatic Corps suggests Rassendyll may have joined the British Secret Service and been assigned to work on the Ruritanian succession. His job is to eliminate Michael from the throne (the masses liked him) and ensure Rudolf's succession (a weak man given to drink, and controllable by his British friends). There was no mention of Ruritania's importance as a military or commercial partner to Britain.

Sir Anthony Hope Hawkins was a successful London lawyer who wrote this 1894 novel about foreign intrigue with an Englishman in a fictional Balkan country. It inspired many such stories, and was filmed four times. This could be a fictionalized story based on the death of Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria-Hungary at Mayerling in 1889. There is a book that claims Rudolph was murdered because he was friendlier to Britain and France than the German Empire. There may be more to this book than a simple adventure novel.

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