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Ruritanian Romance
Ruritanian romance is a genre of literature, film and theatre comprising novels, stories, plays and films set in a fictional country, usually in Central or Eastern Europe, such as the "Ruritania" that gave the genre its name. Such stories are typically swashbuckling adventure novels, tales of high romance and intrigue, centered on the ruling classes, almost always aristocracy and royalty,John Clute and John Grant, ''The Encyclopedia of Fantasy'', p. 826 although (for instance) Winston Churchill's novel ''Savrola'', in every other way a typical example of the genre, concerns a revolution to restore rightful parliamentary government in the republican country of Laurania. The themes of honor, loyalty and love predominate, and the works frequently feature the restoration of legitimate government after a period of usurpation or dictatorship. History of the genre Romantic stories about the royalty of a fictional kingdom were common, for instance Robert Louis Stevenson's ''Prince Ot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anthony Hope
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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Syldavia
Syldavia ( Syldavian: ) is a fictional country in ''The Adventures of Tintin'', the comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé. It is located in the Balkans and has a rivalry with the fictional neighbouring country of Borduria. Syldavia is depicted in ''King Ottokar's Sceptre'' (1938–1939), '' Destination Moon'' (1950), ''Explorers on the Moon'' (1952–1953, briefly), ''The Calculus Affair'' (1954–1956), and ''Tintin and the Lake of Sharks'' (1972), and is mentioned in ''Tintin and the Picaros'' (1975–1976). According to Harry Thompson's 2011 ''Tintin: Hergé and Its Creation'', Syldavia "was an idealised portrayal of central Europe between the wars – a benevolent monarchy, peaceful village life, sturdy peasants puffing on large pipes." Hergé claimed that the country is heavily inspired by the real-world countries of both Albania and Montenegro, and may also be based on larger Balkan nations such as Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria. Overview Syldavia is a monarchy, ruled ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Guardian Media Group, owned by the Scott Trust. The trust was created in 1936 to "secure the financial and editorial independence of ''The Guardian'' in perpetuity and to safeguard the journalistic freedom and liberal values of ''The Guardian'' free from commercial or political interference". The trust was converted into a limited company in 2008, with a constitution written so as to maintain for ''The Guardian'' the same protections as were built into the structure of the Scott Trust by its creators. Profits are reinvested in journalism rather than distributed to owners or shareholders. It is considered a newspaper of record in the UK. The editor-in-chief Katharine Viner succeeded Alan Rusbridger in 2015. Since 2018, the paper's main news ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
King Ottokar's Sceptre
''King Ottokar's Sceptre'' (french: link=no, Le Sceptre d'Ottokar) is the eighth volume of ''The Adventures of Tintin'', the comics series by Belgian cartoonist Hergé. Commissioned by the conservative Belgian newspaper for its children's supplement , it was serialised weekly from August 1938 to August 1939. Hergé intended the story as a satirical criticism of the expansionist policies of Nazi Germany, in particular the annexation of Austria in March 1938 (the ''Anschluss''). The story tells of young Belgian reporter Tintin and his dog Snowy, who travel to the fictional Balkan nation of Syldavia, where they combat a plot to overthrow the monarchy of King Muskar XII. ''King Ottokar's Sceptre'' was a commercial success and was published in book form by Casterman shortly after its conclusion. Hergé continued ''The Adventures of Tintin'' with ''Land of Black Gold'' until forced closure in 1940, while the series itself became a defining part of the Franco-Belgian comics trad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Adventures Of Tintin
''The Adventures of Tintin'' (french: Les Aventures de Tintin ) is a series of 24 bande dessinée#Formats, ''bande dessinée'' albums created by Belgians, Belgian cartoonist Georges Remi, who wrote under the pen name Hergé. The series was one of the most popular European comics of the 20th century. By 2007, a century after Hergé's birth in 1907, ''Tintin'' had been published in more than 70 languages with sales of more than 200 million copies, and had been adapted for radio, television, theatre and film. The series first appeared in French on 10 January 1929, in (''The Little Twentieth''), a youth supplement to the Belgian newspaper (''The Twentieth Century''). The success of the series led to serial (literature), serialised strips published in Belgium's leading newspaper (''The Evening'') and spun into a successful ''Tintin (magazine), Tintin'' magazine. In 1950, Hergé created Studios Hergé, which produced the canonical versions of 11 ''Tintin'' albums. The series is se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Mad King
''The Mad King'' is a Ruritanian romance by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, originally published in two parts as "The Mad King" and "Barney Custer of Beatrice" in ''All-Story Weekly'', in 1914 and 1915, respectively. These were combined for the book edition, first published in hardcover by A. C. McClurg in 1926. Plot summary Set in the fictional European kingdom of Lutha, the protagonist is a young American named Barney Custer, of Beatrice, Nebraska, who is the son of an American farmer and a runaway Luthan princess, Victoria Rubinroth. Unaware of his royal blood, much less that he is a dead ringer for his relative Leopold, the current king of Lutha, Barney visits Lutha on the eve of the First World War to see for himself his mother's native land. As he arrives in Lutha, King Leopold has just escaped from his ten years' imprisonment at the hands of his scheming uncle, Prince Peter of Blentz. Much to his own and everyone else's confusion, Barney is naturally mistaken for the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edgar Rice Burrough
Edgar Rice Burroughs (September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American author, best known for his prolific output in the adventure, science fiction, and fantasy genres. Best-known for creating the characters Tarzan and John Carter, he also wrote the ''Pellucidar'' series, the ''Amtor'' series, and the ''Caspak'' trilogy. Tarzan was immediately popular, and Burroughs capitalized on it in every way possible, including a syndicated Tarzan comic strip, movies, and merchandise. Tarzan remains one of the most successful fictional characters to this day and is a cultural icon. Burroughs's California ranch is now the center of the Tarzana neighborhood in Los Angeles, named after the character. Burroughs was an explicit supporter of eugenics and scientific racism in both his fiction and nonfiction; Tarzan was meant to reflect these concepts. Biography Early life and family Burroughs was born on September 1, 1875, in Chicago (he later lived for many years in the suburb of O ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Lost Prince (novel)
''The Lost Prince'' is a novel by British-American author Frances Hodgson Burnett, first published in 1915. Plot summary This book, a Ruritanian romance for children, is about Marco Loristan, his father, and his friend, a street urchin called "The Rat". Marco's father, Stefan, is a Samavian patriot working to overthrow the cruel dictatorship in the kingdom of Samavia. Marco and his father come to London where Marco strikes up a friendship with a crippled street urchin known as The Rat. The friendship occurs when Marco overhears The Rat shouting in military form. Marco discovers he had stumbled upon a club known as the Squad, where the boys drill under the leadership of The Rat, whose education and imagination far exceeds their own. Stefan, realizing that two boys are less likely to be noticed, entrusts them with a secret mission to travel across Europe giving the secret sign: 'The Lamp is lighted.' Marco is to go as the Bearer of the Sign while The Rat goes as his Aide-de-Camp (s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frances Hodgson Burnett
Frances Eliza Hodgson Burnett (24 November 1849 – 29 October 1924) was a British-American novelist and playwright. She is best known for the three children's novels ''Little Lord Fauntleroy'' (published in 1885–1886), '' A Little Princess'' (1905), and '' The Secret Garden'' (1911). Frances Eliza Hodgson was born in Cheetham, Manchester, England. After her father died in 1853, when Frances was 3 years old, the family fell on straitened circumstances and in 1865 emigrated to the United States, settling in New Market, Tennessee. Frances began her remunerative writing career there at age 19 to help earn money for the family, publishing stories in magazines. In 1870, her mother died. In Knoxville, Tennessee, in 1873 she married Swan Burnett, who became a medical doctor. Their first son Lionel was born a year later. The Burnetts lived for two years in Paris, where their second son Vivian was born, before returning to the United States to live in Washington, D.C. Burnet ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Graustark
Graustark is a fictional country in Eastern Europe used as a setting for several novels by George Barr McCutcheon. Graustark's neighbors, which also figure in the stories, are Axphain to the north and Dawsbergen to the south. Description Graustark is described as a mountainous country with an area of approximately ; there is at least one reference in the books that fixes its location as somewhere in the Carpathian Mountains near Romania. On the other hand, in ''Graustark'' it is said to be threatened with reduction to being only 25 miles wide by 150 miles long (3750 square miles) and in ''Truxton King'' is said to provide a shorter rail route to Russian territories in or near Afghanistan. Graustark's capital city, Edelweiss, is accessible by train from Vienna. The mountain town of Ganlook is near the border with Axphain, Graustark's traditional enemy. Graustark is ruled as a principality and its unit of currency is called the ''gavvo'', worth $1.40 at the time of the novel ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Barr McCutcheon
George Barr McCutcheon (July 26, 1866 – October 23, 1928) was an American popular novelist and playwright. His best known works include a series of novels set in Graustark, a fictional East European country, and the novel '' Brewster's Millions'', which was adapted into a play and several films. Life McCutcheon was born in Tippecanoe County, Indiana. His father, despite his own lack of formal education, stressed the value of literature and encouraged his sons to write. During McCutcheon's childhood, his father had a number of jobs that required travel around the county. McCutcheon studied at Purdue University and was a roommate of future humorist George Ade. During his college years, he was editor of the newspaper '' Lafayette Daily Courier'' and wrote a serial novel of satire about Wabash River life. Although McCutcheon became famous for the ''Graustark'' series (the first novel was published in 1901), he disliked the characterization of being a Romantic and preferred to b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
