Anthony Hope 
The Prisoner of Zenda (Barnes & Noble Digital Library) 

This classic 1894 adventure novel was so popular that a subgenre of fiction was named after Ruritania, the fictitious European country in which the story is set. It features Rudolf Rassendyll, an English nobleman whose remarkable resemblance to Prince Rudolph of Ruritania results in his becoming the prince’s stand-in when Rudolph is abducted on the eve of his coronation. 

Circa l’autore

Sir Anthony Hope Hawkins (1863-1933), who published under the name Anthony Hope, was a prolific English novelist and playwright.  His best-known works are the swashbuckling adventures Prisoner of Zenda (1894) and its sequel, Rupert of Hentzau (1898).  Knighted in 1918 for his wartime service with the Ministry of Information, his autobiography Memories and Notes appeared in 1927.