The Ruritanian Trilogy
Classic Swashbuckling Romance of Dynastic Intrigue, Masquerade, Dueling, and Aristocratic Honor in an Imagined European KingdomBy Anthony Hope
Length22h 8m
About this audiobook
Anthony Hope's Ruritanian Trilogy—comprising The Prisoner of Zenda, Rupert of Hentzau, and The Heart of Princess Osra—establishes the fictional Central European kingdom of Ruritania as a stage for romance, political intrigue, mistaken identity, and dynastic peril. Combining brisk adventure narrative with elegant wit and an acute interest in honor, loyalty, and the burdens of public duty, Hope adapts the conventions of sensation fiction, historical romance, and the swashbuckling novel. The trilogy's sophisticated treatment of aristocratic codes and constitutional uncertainty both entertains and subtly questions the idealized politics of monarchy that shaped late-Victorian popular literature. Sir Anthony Hope Hawkins (1863–1933), a barrister and prolific novelist, drew upon his legal training, knowledge of political institutions, and fascination with European diplomacy to create fiction in which ethical decisions carry public consequences. His professional understanding of law and governance lends credibility to Ruritania's conspiracies, while his literary sensibility transforms political melodrama into a study of character, self-command, and sacrifice. The success of The Prisoner of Zenda made Hope a defining figure in the development of the "Ruritanian romance," a genre whose influence extends through twentieth-century adventure fiction and cinema. This volume is recommended to readers who value intelligent escapism: it offers thrilling plots, memorable personalities, and a carefully sustained atmosphere of courtly danger without sacrificing moral complexity. It will particularly appeal to admirers of classic adventure, historical romance, political fiction, and the literary origins of the modern fantasy kingdom. Read together, the three novels reveal both the enduring pleasures and the ideological tensions of Hope's imaginative monarchy.
Audiobook details
Rating★★★★ 4.2 (151)
Includes Goodreads, LibraryThing, Amazon, StoryGraph
GenreAction and Adventure, Literary Classics
Length22 hrs 8 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateMay 14, 2024
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1THE HEADS OF CERBERUS (Dystopian Classic) (Annotated)
2The Ruritanian Trilogy
3The Heart of Princess Osra
4Chapter I. The Happiness of Stephen the Smith.
5Chapter II. The Wager of the Marquis de Mérosailles.
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6Chapter III. The Madness of Lord Harry Culverhouse.
7Chapter IV. The Courtesy of Christian the Highwayman.
8Chapter V. The Sin of the Bishop of Modenstein.
9Chapter VI. The Device of Giraldo the Painter.
10Chapter VII. The Indifference of the Miller of Hofbau.
11Chapter VIII. The Love of the Prince of Glottenberg.
12Chapter IX. The Victory of the Grand Duke of Mittenheim.
13The Prisoner of Zenda
14Chapter 1 The Rassendylls — With a Word on the Elphbergs
15Chapter 2 Concerning the Colour of Men’s Hair
16Chapter 3 A Merry Evening with a Distant Relative
17Chapter 4 The King Keeps His Appointment
18Chapter 5 The Adventures of an Understudy
19Chapter 6 The Secret of a Cellar
20Chapter 7 His Majesty Sleeps in Strelsau
21Chapter 8 A Fair Cousin and a Dark Brother
22Chapter 9 A New Use for a Tea-table
23Chapter 10 A Great Chance for a Villain
24Chapter 11 Hunting a Very Big Boar
25Chapter 12 I Receive a Visitor and Bait a Hook
26Chapter 13 An Improvement on Jacob’s Ladder
27Chapter 14 A Night Outside the Castle
28Chapter 15 I Talk with a Tempter
29Chapter 16 A Desperate Plan
30Chapter 17 Young Rupert’s Midnight Diversions
31Chapter 18 The Forcing of the Trap
32Chapter 19 Face to Face in the Forest
33Chapter 20 The Prisoner and the King
34Chapter 21 If love were all!
35Chapter 22 Present, Past — and Future?
36Rupert of Hentzau
37Chapter I. The Queen’s Good-By
38Chapter II. A Station Without a Cab
39Chapter III. Again to Zenda
40Chapter IV. An Eddy on the Moat
41Chapter V. An Audience of the King
42Chapter VI. The Task of the Queen’s Servants
43Chapter VII. The Message of Simon the Huntsman
44Chapter VIII. The Temper of Boris the Hound
45Chapter IX. The King in the Hunting Lodge
46Chapter X. The King in Strelsau
47Chapter XI. What the Chancellor’s Wife Saw
48Chapter XII. Before Them All!
49Chapter XIII. A King up His Sleeve
50Chapter XIV. The News Comes to Strelsau
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