Anthony Hope Popular Books

Anthony Hope Biography & Facts

Sir Anthony Hope Hawkins, better known as Anthony Hope (9 February 1863 – 8 July 1933), was a British novelist and playwright. He was a prolific writer, especially of adventure novels but he is remembered predominantly for only two books: The Prisoner of Zenda (1894) and its sequel Rupert of Hentzau (1898). These works, "minor classics" of English literature, are set in the contemporaneous fictional country of Ruritania and spawned the genre known as Ruritanian romance, books set in fictional European locales similar to the novels.Zenda has inspired many adaptations, most notably the 1937 Hollywood movie of the same name and the 1952 version. Early career and Zenda Hope was educated at St John's School, Leatherhead, Marlborough College and Balliol College, Oxford. In an academically distinguished career at Oxford he obtained first-class honours in Classical Moderations (Literis Graecis et Latinis) in 1882 and in Literae Humaniores ('Greats') in 1885.Hope trained as a lawyer and barrister, being called to the Bar by the Middle Temple in 1887. He served his pupillage under the future Liberal Prime Minister H. H. Asquith, who thought him a promising barrister and who was disappointed by his decision to turn to writing.Hope had time to write, as his working day was not overfull during these early years and he lived with his widowed father, then vicar of St Bride's Church, Fleet Street. His short pieces appeared in periodicals but for his first book, he was forced to resort to a self-publishing press. A Man of Mark (1890) is notable primarily for its similarities to Zenda: it is set in an imaginary country, Aureataland, and features political upheaval and humour. More novels and short stories followed, including Father Stafford in 1891 and the mildly successful Mr Witt's Widow in 1892. He stood as the Liberal candidate for Wycombe in the election of 1892 but was not elected.In 1893, he wrote three novels (Sport Royal, A Change of Air and Half-a-Hero) and a series of sketches that first appeared in The Westminster Gazette and were collected in 1894 as The Dolly Dialogues, illustrated by Arthur Rackham.Dolly was his first major literary success. A. E. W. Mason deemed these conversations "so truly set in the London of their day that the social historian would be unwise to neglect them," and said that they were written with "delicate wit [and] a shade of sadness."The idea for Hope's tale of political intrigue, The Prisoner of Zenda, being the history of three months in the life of an English gentleman, came to him at the close of 1893 as he was walking in London. Hope finished the first draft in a month and the book was in print by April. The story is set in the fictional European kingdom of 'Ruritania', a term which has come to mean "the novelist's and dramatist's locale for court romances in a modern setting." Zenda achieved instant success and its witty protagonist, the debonair Rudolf Rassendyll, became a well-known literary creation. The novel was praised by Mason, literary critic Andrew Lang, and Robert Louis Stevenson.The popularity of Zenda persuaded Hope to give up the "brilliant legal career [that] seemed to lie ahead of him" to become a full-time writer but he "never again achieved such complete artistic success as in this one book." Also in 1894, Hope produced The God in the Car, a political story, which the late nineteenth-century English novelist George Gissing thought was "of course vastly inferior to what I had supposed from the reviews". Later years Hope wrote 32 volumes of fiction over the course of his lifetime and he had a large popular following. In 1896 he published The Chronicles of Count Antonio, followed in 1897 by a tale of adventure set on a Greek island, entitled Phroso. He went on a publicity tour of the United States in late 1897, during which he impressed a New York Times reporter as being somewhat like Rudolf Rassendyll: a well-dressed Englishman with a hearty laugh, a soldierly attitude, a dry sense of humour, "quiet, easy manners", and an air of shrewdness. In 1898, he wrote Simon Dale, a historical novel involving actress and courtesan Nell Gwyn. Marie Tempest appeared in the dramatisation, called English Nell. One of Hope's plays, The Adventure of Lady Ursula, was produced in 1898. This was followed by his novel The King's Mirror (1899), which Hope considered one of his best works; and Captain Dieppe (1899). In 1900, he published Quisanté and he was elected chairman of the committee of the Society of Authors. He wrote Tristram of Blent in 1901, The Intrusions of Peggy in 1902, and Double Harness in 1904, followed by A Servant of the Public in 1905, about the love of acting. In 1906, he produced Sophy of Kravonia, a novel in a similar vein to Zenda which was serialised in The Windsor Magazine; Roger Lancelyn Green is especially damning of this effort. Nevertheless, the story was filmed twice, in Italy in 1916 as Sofia De Kravonia, and in the United States in 1920 as Sophy of Kravonia or, The Virgin of Paris. Both adaptations featured the actress Diana Karenne in the title role (billed as "Diana Kareni" in the latter film). In 1907, a collection of his short stories and novelettes was published under the title Tales of Two People; as well as the novel Helena's Path. In 1910, he wrote Second String, followed by Mrs Maxon Protests the next year. Hope wrote and co-wrote many plays and political non-fiction during the First World War, some under the auspices of the Ministry of Information. Later publications included The Secret of the Tower, and Beaumaroy Home from the Wars, in 1919 and Lucinda in 1920. Lancelyn Green asserts that Hope was "a first-class amateur but only a second-class professional writer. Personal life Hope married Elizabeth Somerville (1885/6–1946) in 1903 and they had two sons and a daughter. He was knighted in 1918 for his contribution to propaganda efforts during World War I.He published an autobiographical book, Memories and Notes, in 1927. Death Hope died of throat cancer at the age of 70 at his country home, Heath Farm at Walton-on-the-Hill in Surrey. There is a blue plaque on his house in Bedford Square, London. Bibliography The Ruritanian Trilogy The Heart of Princess Osra, 1896 - a fix-up novel containing 9 linked short stories The Prisoner of Zenda: being the history of three months in the life of an English gentleman, 1894. Rupert of Hentzau: being the sequel to a story by the same writer entitled the Prisoner of Zenda, 1898.Other works A Man of Mark, 1890. Father Stafford,1891. Mr Witt's Widow: A Frivolous Tale, 1892. A Change of Air, 1893. Half a Hero, 1893. Sport Royal and other stories, 1893. The Dolly Dialogues, 1894. The God in the Car, 1894. The Indiscretion of the Duchess: being a story concerning two ladies, a nobleman, and a necklace, 1894. The Chronicles of Count Antonio, 1895. Comedies of Courtship, 1896. Phroso: A Romance, 1897. Simon Dale, 1898. The King's Mirror, 1899. Quisant.... Discover the Anthony Hope popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Anthony Hope books.

Best Seller Anthony Hope Books of 2024

  • House of War synopsis, comments

    House of War

    Scott Mariani

    The edgeofyourseat thriller from the #1 bestseller.‘A gripping tale that will have you turning the pages well into the night’ MARK DAWSONA DEADLY TERROR PLOT. A RACE AGAINST THE CL...

  • The Mueller Report synopsis, comments

    The Mueller Report

    Jason O. Gilbert

    The president has gotten himself into a bit of trouble. Maybe you heard?The entire country is waiting to see what former FBI director and current special counsel Robert Mueller has...

  • El prisionero de Zenda synopsis, comments

    El prisionero de Zenda

    Anthony Hope

    El prisionero de Zenda es una novela escrita en el año 1894 por el autor británico Sir Anthony Hoppe Hawkins (1863, Londres 1933) del subgénero novelesco de capa y espada y que no...

  • The Prisoner of Zenda synopsis, comments

    The Prisoner of Zenda

    Anthony Hope

    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 ceremon...

  • Crossfire Hurricane synopsis, comments

    Crossfire Hurricane

    Josh Campbell

    CROSSFIRE HURRICANE DELIVERS THE DEFINITIVE HISTORY OF HOW WE GOT FROM 2016 TO TODAY, tracing the events that lead this country to a historic impeachment and beyond.  “A mustr...

  • Works of Anthony Hope synopsis, comments

    Works of Anthony Hope

    Anthony Hope

    28 works of Anthony Hope English novelist and playwright (18631933) This ebook presents a collection of 28 works of Anthony Hope. A dynamic table of contents allows you to jump dir...

  • Lucinda synopsis, comments

    Lucinda

    Anthony Hope

    HIS “Business Ambassador” was the title which my old chief, Ezekiel Coldston, used to give me. I daresay that it served as well as any other to describe with a pleasant mixture of ...

  • The Whole Language synopsis, comments

    The Whole Language

    Gregory Boyle

    Gregory Boyle, the beloved Jesuit priest and author of the inspirational bestsellers Tattoos on the Heart and Barking to the Choir, returns with a call to witness the transformativ...

  • Tristram of Blent, an episode of the story of an ancient house synopsis, comments

    Tristram of Blent, an episode of the story of an ancient house

    Anthony Hope

    According to Wikipedia: "Sir Anthony Hope Hawkins, better known as Anthony Hope (9 February 1863 – 8 July 1933), was an English novelist and playwright. Although he was a prolific ...

  • The Prisoner of Zenda synopsis, comments

    The Prisoner of Zenda

    Anthony Hope

    The Prisoner of Zenda Anthony Hope 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...

  • The Prisoner of Zenda synopsis, comments

    The Prisoner of Zenda

    Anthony Hope

    The Prisoner of Zenda is an adventure novel by Anthony Hope. The king of the fictional country of Ruritania is drugged on the eve of his coronation and thus unable to attend the ce...

  • The Prisoner of Zenda synopsis, comments

    The Prisoner of Zenda

    Anthony Hope

    “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 eggspoon, “why in the world should I do anything...

  • Get Me the Urgent Biscuits synopsis, comments

    Get Me the Urgent Biscuits

    Sweetpea Slight

    'A sparkling memoir ... A delight from start to finish' NINA STIBBE 'Anyone who loves the theatre will love this book' ZOË WANAMAKER In 1980s London, Sweetpea Slight is en route to...

  • Tattoos on the Heart synopsis, comments

    Tattoos on the Heart

    Gregory Boyle

    “Destined to become a classic of both urban reportage and contemporary spirituality” (Los Angeles Times)Tattoos on the Heart is a series of parables about kinship and redemption fr...

  • Tales of two people synopsis, comments

    Tales of two people

    Anthony Hope

    COMMON opinion said that Lord Lynborough ought never to have had a peerage and forty thousand a year; he ought to have had a pound a week and a back bedroom in Bloomsbury. Then he ...

  • Tales of two people synopsis, comments

    Tales of two people

    Anthony Hope

    COMMON opinion said that Lord Lynborough ought never to have had a peerage and forty thousand a year; he ought to have had a pound a week and a back bedroom in Bloomsbury. Then he ...

  • The Prisoner of Zenda synopsis, comments

    The Prisoner of Zenda

    Anthony Hope

    The Prisoner of Zenda is an adventure novel by Anthony Hope, published in 1894. The king of the fictional country of Ruritania is abducted on the eve of his coronation, and the pro...

  • Essential Novelists - Anthony Hope synopsis, comments

    Essential Novelists - Anthony Hope

    Anthony Hope & August Nemo

    Welcome to the Essential Novelists book series, were we present to you the best works of remarkable authors. For this book, the literary critic August Nemo has chosen the two most ...

  • Until the Darkness Comes synopsis, comments

    Until the Darkness Comes

    Kevin Brooks

    PI John Craine has come to Hale Island to get away from it all the memories and the guilt, and a past that just won't let go. But within hours he stumbles across the dead body of ...

  • The Red Apprentice synopsis, comments

    The Red Apprentice

    Jamie Jackson

    When Ole Gunnar Solskjaer returned to Old Trafford as caretaker manager midway through the 201819 season, he breathed new life into a team that was drifting. In this new and defini...

  • When Faith Meets Therapy synopsis, comments

    When Faith Meets Therapy

    Anthony Evans & Stacy Kaiser

    The power of faith intersects with the practicality of counseling in this unique partnership of a faith/worship leader and a therapist as they offer a pathway for readers to find h...

  • Quisante synopsis, comments

    Quisante

    Anthony Hope

    According to Wikipedia: "Sir Anthony Hope Hawkins, better known as Anthony Hope (9 February 1863 – 8 July 1933), was an English novelist and playwright. Although he was a prolific ...

  • 7 best short stories by Anthony Hope synopsis, comments

    7 best short stories by Anthony Hope

    Anthony Hope & August Nemo

    Anthony Hope was a prolific writer, especially of adventure novels. His works are set in the contemporaneous fictional country of Ruritania and spawned the genre known as Ruritania...