The Prisoner of Zenda [Paperback]

Anthony Hope (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 2001

Rudolf Rassendyll is the hero of Anthony Hope's fantastic novel, The Prisoner of Zenda. After leaving his lofty life in London, Rassendyll discovers adventure in Ruritania, where he happens to bear a remarkable resemblance to the local king, Rudolf Elphberg. However, on the eve of his coronation, Elphberg is abducted and Rassendyll is called upon to pose as a political decoy. Along the way, Rassendyll finds courage, love, and duty as he negotiates the many twisting plots of Elphberg's abductors.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 184 pages
• Publisher: House of Stratus Ltd (August 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0755107098
• ISBN-13: 978-0755107094
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,835,731 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great fun, October 10, 2010

By 

Roy Schlegel - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Prisoner of Zenda (Kindle Edition)

This is a great story, full of action and intrigue, with very believable characters. The villains earned my scorn and the story unfolded well with plenty of cliff-hangers and foiled plans that added well to the suspense.

I had to slow down a couple times when I didn't pick up early that Black Michael, the duke, and the King's brother are all the same person, but that was more due to my reading it quickly than to the author's style.

The message of honor and true love rings true when contrasted with believable descriptions of scoundrels and rakes in it for themselves. There were also very good swordfights, both with steel and wit. Entertaining all the way to the end.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The book that started it all!!!, August 16, 2005

By 

Colin P. Lindsey (Manchester, NH) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Prisoner of Zenda (Paperback)

I have been an avaricious reader since I was in the second grade; a bout of mononucleosis and the discovery of the Hardy boys in the third grade sealed the deal for me, and I have been reading furiously ever since. This book, perhaps more than any other I had read in those formative years, thrilled me to my bones and forged me into a lifelong committed adventure reader. They say you never forget your first love, and I have never forgotten the Prisoner of Zenda. It has EVERYTHING a young boy could desire in an adventure book: travel to a distant country, nefarious villains, royalty, beautiful damsels, dashing military officers accoutered with flashing sabers and charging steeds, castles, kidnappings, escapes, swashbuckling....my knees buckle a little bit just thinking about it again. This book literally imprinted me for everything I have read in the genre since then and stirred in me a desire for travel and adventure that has led me all around the globe several times in my life. I do not think it is a stretch to say that this book may very well have changed the course of my life, nudging me into certain dreams and hopes that I have happily chased ever since. I've ordered it today, desiring to read it again and compare it to my 8 year old memories of it, but, more importantly, I also wish to present it to my son and hope it opens the world to him the same way it did for me.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully written escape novel, August 21, 2005

By 

Scott gru-Bell (Fort Mill, SC, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Prisoner of Zenda (Paperback)

Being in my mid-fifties, I initially thought this book would be too silly for me. Boy, was I wrong! Not only is the text fast-paced and thoroughly engaging, it is splendedly written in a style befitting the aristocratic adventure-romance it portrays.

Somewhere between Don Quixote and Harlequin novels, "Prisoner" offers an affirmation of the noble in each of us, particularly in our own day of ethically-flat efficiency.