With a new Introduction by Cedric Watts, Research Professor of English, University of Sussex.
In The Prisoner of Zenda, Rudolf Rassendyll’s close resemblance to the King of Ruritania leads him into intrigue, romance and perilous escapades. Enmeshed in a plot by the villainous Duke of Strelsau to depose the King, Rudolf is entranced by the beautiful Princess Flavia, and finds that both his life and his honour are imperilled.
The sequel, Rupert of Hentzau, tells how Rupert (‘who feared neither man nor devil’) seeks to ruin Flavia’s reputation and wreak vengeance on Rudolf. Events accelerate to a dramatically violent climax.
Both these swashbuckling novels offer the appeal of romantic adventure in a land now legendary. Numerous adaptations on screen and stage have extended the fame of Anthony Hope’s Ruritania.
