The Scarlet Pimpernel

'When will you give up these mad adventures, and leave others to fight their own battles and to save their own lives as best they may?' 'When your ladyship has ceased to be the most admired woman in Europe, namely, when I am in my grave.' The first novel in Baroness Orczy's brilliantly entertaining historical fiction series, The Scarlet Pimpernel is a thrilling tale of courage, justice and feigned identities. It is 1792, and the ruthless Reign of Terror during the French Revolution is in full swing: waves of aristocrats are being ordered to be executed daily, and the fear of bloody massacres is at an all-time high. Enter eccentric English dandy, Sir Percy Blakeney, who is far more than what meets the eye. Under the guise of his alter-ego – the quick-thinking, masterful swordsman, the Scarlet Pimpernel – Blakeney has made it his duty to free the incarcerated from their guillotined fate. His identity is a thoroughly protected secret, but with the French authorities hot on his tail, Blakeney needs to tread more carefully than ever… A thrilling, action-packed narrative, The Scarlet Pimpernel was adapted into one of the most popular stage shows in London in the early twentieth century. Today, it remains a cornerstone of adventure fiction. Baroness Orczy (1865 – 1947) was a British novelist and dramatist. Born in Hungary, Orczy moved to London with her family as a teenager, where she studied art. Although she didn't turn her hand to fiction until her thirties, she was a prolific writer, most famous for her series of novels featuring the foppish but courageous Englishman, Sir Percy Blakeney.