''A Prince of the Captivity'' is a 1933 novel by the Scottish author
John Buchan.
Plot
The hero of the novel is Adam Melfort, who marries young to a beautiful but mindless socialite who cannot return his love for her. When she forges her wealthy uncle's signature on a cheque, he takes the blame to save her family's name, and is jailed, losing his army commission in the process. He allows her to divorce him so that she can remarry someone of more similar mind. Released from gaol during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, he is recruited as an undercover agent behind enemy lines in Belgium, and later leads an expedition to
Greenland
Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland i ...
to rescue a wealthy American millionaire explorer whose own expedition has met disaster.
Background
The Greenland expedition episode in the novel was inspired by German scientist
Alfred Wegener
Alfred Lothar Wegener (; ; 1 November 1880 – November 1930) was a German climatologist, geologist, geophysicist, meteorologist, and polar researcher.
During his lifetime he was primarily known for his achievements in meteorology and ...
's fatal 1930 expedition.
References
External links
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1933 British novels
Novels by John Buchan
British adventure novels
Hodder & Stoughton books
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