The Scarlet Pimpernel

Front Cover
Simon and Schuster, 2004 - Fiction - 384 pages
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This timeless novel of intrigue and romance is the adventure of one man's defiance in the face of authority. The rulers of the French Revolution are unable to discern the identity of the Scarlet Pimpernel, a man whose exploits are an embarrassment to the new regime. Is he an exiled French nobleman or an English lord? The only thing for certain is his calling card—the blood-red flower known as the Scarlet Pimpernel. The novel tells of the mysterious and much spoken-of League of the Scarlet Pimpernel. This group is led by the cunning and noble Sir Percy Blakeney who, with accomplices, risks life and limb rescuing the innocents caught up in the Reign of Terror in Paris. His disguises and other inventive ways of eluding capture stretch to his anonymity even amongst the English. The Scarlet Pimpernel is by far the best known not only of Orczy's works, but also of stories set during the French Revolution.

This edition includes:
-A concise introduction that gives readers important background information
-A chronology of the author's life and work
-A timeline of significant events that provides the book's historical context
-An outline of key themes and plot points to help readers form their own interpretations
-Detailed explanatory notes
-Critical analysis, including contemporary and modern perspectives on the work
-Discussion questions to promote lively classroom and book group interaction
-A list of recommended related books and films to broaden the reader's experience

Enriched Classics offer readers affordable editions of great works of literature enhanced by helpful notes and insightful commentary. The scholarship provided in Enriched Classics enables readers to appreciate, understand, and enjoy the world's finest books to their full potential.
 

Selected pages

Contents

SEPTEMBER 1792
3
THE FISHERMANS REST
17
THE REFUGEES
26
THE LEAGUE OF THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL
36
MARGUERITE
46
AN EXQUISITE OF 92
53
THE SECRET ORCHARD
66
THE ACCREDITED AGENT
74
THE FRIEND
201
SUSPENSE
210
CALAIS
220
HOPE
232
THE DEATHTRAP
241
THE EAGLE AND THE FOX
250
THE JEW
261
ON THE TRACK
273

THE OUTRAGE
88
IN THE OPERA BOX
97
LORD GRENVILLES BALL
115
THE SCRAP OF PAPER
123
EITHEROR? m
134
ONE OCLOCK PRECISELY
138
DOUBT
149
RICHMOND
156
FAREWELL m
174
THE MYSTERIOUS DEVICE
183
THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL
189
THE PERE BLANCHARDS HUT
283
TRAPPED
294
THE SCHOONER
300
THE ESCAPE
316
NOTES
330
INTERPRETIVE NOTES
339
CRITICAL EXCERPTS
345
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
355
SUGGESTIONS FOR THE INTERESTED READER
357
Copyright

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About the author (2004)

Baroness Emmuska Orczy (1865-1947) was Hungarian-born royalty but lived most of her life in London. Baron Felix Orczy, a noted composer and conductor, was her father. She received a convent education in Paris and Brussels and moved with her family to London, where she studied Art and met her future husband - Montague Barstow - who she would marry in 1894 and collaborate with on the theatrical original of "The Scarlet Pimpernel" in 1903. Her lack of success in the artistic field led her to start writing and found it surprisingly easy to get her early crime stories published. Orczy and Barstow moved to Monte Carlo, where the latter died in 1943, leaving his wife to write her autobiography, which was published a matter of weeks before her death. Baroness Emmuska Orczy (1865-1947) was Hungarian-born royalty but lived most of her life in London. Baron Felix Orczy, a noted composer and conductor, was her father. She received a convent education in Paris and Brussels and moved with her family to London, where she studied Art and met her future husband - Montague Barstow - who she would marry in 1894 and collaborate with on the theatrical original of "The Scarlet Pimpernel" in 1903. Her lack of success in the artistic field led her to start writing and found it surprisingly easy to get her early crime stories published. Orczy and Barstow moved to Monte Carlo, where the latter died in 1943, leaving his wife to write her autobiography, which was published a matter of weeks before her death.

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