Ruritania Trilogy

The Heart of Princess Osra is part of Anthony Hope's trilogy of novels set in the fictional country of Ruritania and which spawned the genre of Ruritanian romance. This collection of linked short stories is a prequel: it was written immediately after the success of The Prisoner of Zenda and was published in 1896, but is set in the 1730s, well over a century before the events of Zenda and its sequel, Rupert of Hentzau. The stories deal with the love life of Princess Osra, younger sister of Rudolf III, the shared ancestor of Rudolf Rassendyll, the English gentleman who acts as political decoy in The Prisoner of Zenda, and Rudolph V of the House of Elphberg, the absolute monarch of that Germanic kingdom.

This adventure novel tells the story of Rudolf Rassendyll, younger brother of the Earl of Burlesdon and a distant cousin of Rudolf V, the new King of Ruritania. King Rudolf is a hard-drinking, feckless playboy, unpopular with the common people, but supported by the aristocracy. When Rudolf is abducted and imprisoned on the order of the Duke of Streslau, Rassendyll has to impersonate the King at his coronation. There are various plots and counter-plots, with the scheming's of the Duke's mistress Antoinette de Mauban, and of the villainous henchman Rupert of Hentzau, complicated by Rassendyll's romance with Princess Flavia, the King's betrothed.

Anthony Hope's swashbuckling romance transports his English gentleman hero, Rudolf Rassendyll, from a comfortable life in London to fast-moving adventures in Ruritania, a mythical land steeped in political intrigue. Rassendyll bears a striking resemblance to Rudolf Elphberg who is about to be crowned King of Ruritania. When the rival to the throne, Black Michael of Strelsau, attempts to seize power by imprisoning Elphberg in the Castle of Zenda, Rassendyll is obliged to impersonate the King to uphold the rightful sovereignty and ensure political stability. Rassendyll endures a trial of strength in his encounters with the notorious Rupert of Hentzau, and a test of a different sort as he grows to love the Princess Flavia. Five times filmed, The Prisoner of Zenda has been deservedly popular as a classic of romance and adventure since its publication in 1894.

In the fictional country of Ruritania, Prince Michael drugs and abducts his brother, King Rudolf, on the eve of Rudolf's coronation. With the help the king's cousin, who closely resembles Rudolf, the king's men are able to prevent Michael from assuming the throne himself, while fighting to restore the rightful king. Anthony Hope's The Prisoner of Zenda was enormously influential, and inspired a new genre-the Ruritanian romance-as well a number of sequels and adaptations in both print and on screen.

The Prisoner of Zenda is an adventure novel by Anthony Hope. The king of the fictional country of Ruritania is abducted on the eve of his coronation, and the protagonist, is persuaded to act as his political decoy in an attempt to save the situation. The Prisoner of Zenda is an adventure novel by Anthony Hope, published in 1894. The protagonist is an English gentleman on holiday who fortuitously resembles the monarch. The villainous Rupert of Hentzau gave his name to the sequel published in 1898.

"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.

Disaster strikes when the king of Ruritania is drugged on the very eve of his coronation. The ceremony cannot move forward without him - and if his power is not made official, those scheming to seize the throne for themselves may move upon it. With those loyal to the crown desperate for a way to stall until the king is safe once more, a visiting Englishman with a startling likeness to the monarch is convinced to take his place - and must now work against the forces plotting behind the crown's monarchy's back.

Rupert of Hentzau is a sequel by Anthony Hope to The Prisoner of Zenda, written in 1895 but not published until 1898. The story is set within a framing narrative told by a supporting character from The Prisoner of Zenda. The frame implies that the events related in both books took place in the late 1870s and early 1880s. This story commences three years after the conclusion of Zenda, and deals with the same fictional country somewhere in Germanic Middle Europe, the kingdom of Ruritania. Most of the same characters recur: Rudolf Elphberg, the dissolute absolute monarch of Ruritania; Rudolf Rassendyll, the English gentleman who had acted as his political decoy, being his distant cousin and lookalike; Flavia, the princess, now queen; Rupert of Hentzau, the dashing well-born villain; Fritz von Tarlenheim, the loyal courtier; Colonel Sapt, the King's Bodyguard; Lieutenant von Bernenstein, the loyal soldier.

Anthony Hope's swashbuckling classic tale of adventure and romance Ruritania, a beautiful kingdom in the mountains between Germany and Austria, is in the midst of a power struggle. On one side is the alcoholic layabout crown prince, Rudolf-popular with the upper class and army-and on the other is his half brother, Michael, who has the love of the common people. The struggle reaches a new fervor at Rudolf's coronation, when Michael kidnaps his brother and takes him to the Castle of Zenda. Now the only thing in the way of Black Michael's plan is a confused distant cousin in England.   But a man named Rudolf Rassendyll could ruin Michael's plan. Rassendyll bears a striking resemblance to the kidnapped king Rudolf. After the king's disappearance, Rassendyll poses as the sovereign in order to maintain order-and finds that it is up to him to find the rightful ruler.   This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.

In this classic, a fiendish plot forces the rightful king of Ruritania to miss his coronation. Rudolf Rassendyll, a dashing English lookalike, is persuaded to impersonate the monarch - only to find himself drawn into a struggle to save the country and obtain the release of a false accused prisoner. A gripping novel brimming with adventure and romance.

An Adventure Classic. Rudolf Rassendyll is a life-tested Englishman visiting a small Central European kingdom named Ruritania. The soon-to-be king of Ruritania, Rudolf, fourth of his name, shares many physical features with the Englishman but because of his royal blood, he remains naïve and unchallenged. His evil brother, Prince Michael hates him and doesn't want Rudolf to take the crown so he kidnaps him, leaving him in the small town of Zenda. Luckily for Ruritania though, Rudolf Rassendyll is willing to save the day.

Anthony Hope's classic novel established the new genre of 'Ruritanian Romance', romantic tales set in the upper classes, aristocracy and royalty of a fictional country. In the fictional country of Ruritania, the new king is abducted on the eve of his coronation. A visiting English tourist who happens to resemble the king is persuaded to act as a political decoy in an attempt to save the situation.

Sir Anthony Hope Hawkins (1863-1933) was training to become a lawyer and barrister when he wrote his sixth novel, "The Prisoner of Zenda", in 1894. It took one month to finish the first draft, and it quickly achieved such great success that Hope turned to full-time writing. The story is set in the fictional country of Ruritania, on the eve of the new king's coronation. When the king is suddenly abducted, an Englishman who bears a striking resemblance to him is brought in as a political decoy. Like most of Hope's stories, the novel is full of plot twists, complications, villains, forbidden love, and an ultimate sense of duty. Included in this volume is the sequel to "Zenda", "Rupert of Hentzau", which deals with the same fictional country, and many of the same characters. These two works are classics of English literature, whose themes and attraction transcend time, and have inspired many stage, film and television adaptations.