Other editions of book The Prisoner of Zenda

The ultimate escapist adventure story, The Prisoner of Zenda transports listeners into a bygone era, awash with swashbuckling heroism, cunning plots, and courtly love. The popularity of Hope’s tale of intrigue was such that it spawned an entirely new genre known as the “Ruritanian romance.” When the king of Ruritania is kidnapped, the onus falls on a British tourist, who bears an uncanny resemblance to the king, to stand in for him and to avert disaster by coming to his rescue. The frequent replays of the film with Ronald Colman and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. testify to the continuing popularity of this evergreen adventure. Andrew Pugsley’s reading captures the excitement and the momentum.

The Prisoner of Zenda (1894), by Anthony Hope, is an adventure novel in which the King of Ruritania is drugged on the eve of his coronation and thus is unable to attend the ceremony. Political forces within the realm are such that, in order for the king to retain the crown, his coronation must proceed. Fortuitously, an English gentleman on holiday in Ruritania who resembles the monarch is persuaded to act as his political decoy in an effort to save the unstable political situation of the interregnum.

The ultimate escapist adventure story, The Prisoner of Zenda transports listeners into a bygone era, awash with swashbuckling heroism, cunning plots, and courtly love. The popularity of Hope's tale of intrigue was such that it spawned an entirely new genre known as the ""Ruritanian romance."" When the king of Ruritania is kidnapped, the onus falls on a British tourist, who bears an uncanny resemblance to the king, to stand in for him and to avert disaster by coming to his rescue. The frequent replays of the film with Ronald Colman and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. testify to the continuing popularity of this evergreen adventure. Andrew Pugsley's reading captures the excitement and the momentum.