Publisher's Synopsis
If historically tinged action-adventure is your genre of choice, hang on to your hat-you're in for a wild ride. In The Prisoner of Zenda, Anthony Hope relates the misadventures that befall the soon-to-be-crowned king of the fictional country of Ruritania in the days leading up to his coronation. An English tourist who just happens to be a dead ringer for the king is called into service as a decoy, and a string of increasingly perilous scrapes follow."I wonder when in the world you're going to do anything, Rudolf?" said my brother's wife."My dear Rose," I answered, laying down my egg-spoon, "why in the world should I do anything? My position is a comfortable one. I have an income nearly sufficient for my wants (no one's income is ever quite sufficient, you know), I enjoy an enviable social position: I am brother to Lord Burlesdon, and brother-in-law to that charming lady, his countess. Behold, it is enough!""You are nine-and-twenty," she observed, "and you've done nothing but-""Knock about? It is true. Our family doesn't need to do things."
