League of the Scarlet Pimpernel

The Life and Exploits of the Scarlet Pimpernel, a fictional biography members of the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel.
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It's a fantastic collection of short stories that leave me baffled in much the same way as Sherlock Holmes , not to mention that it has the same "air" to it, insane enemies, daring escapes, just about everything that could make a year-old book entertaining. The main character, whom the book is named after, is an alias assumed by Sir Percy Blakeney, a wealthy English gentleman, who seems to have a soft spot for interfering in the affairs of the insane French Revolutionaries.

All of the stories included involve Sir Percy and his daring and fearless League rescuing various 'Aristocrats' or 'enemies of the Republic' from the clutches of the Committee of Public Safety, who are MUCH more menacing than the name leads on. There are spoilers below: I - Sir Percy Explains The first story of the eleven contained in this book, is Sir Percy Explains , which is ironic, because Sir Percy really doesn't do a whole lot of explaining.

Madeleine Lannoy, who is labeled as an "aristo" by the Committee, is driven to becoming a street dancer in the worst neighborhoods of Paris after her only son is captured by the diabolical Jean Paul Marat, for "'daring to turn a deaf ear to the indign passion of a brute! Lannoy rejected Marat, and he took revenge by kidnapping her son for him to live "'in the company of all that is most vile and most degraded in the disease-haunted slums of indigent Paris The crowd, for no apparent reason, begins to assault her, and after a brief altercation, it stops.

Dazed, confused, and semi-conscious, she was then carried off. When she awakens, she is greeted by a tall man, who listens to her pitiful narrative, and then offers to assist her. The story then turns to the house of Simmonne Evrard, who is Marat's friend and house keeper and more specifically to Paul Mole, a man whom the cook had "literally picked one day out of the gutter Seven days into his employment with Marat, Paul is asked to run an errand for his ill boss to the Chemin de Pantin , a children's home, where he will "have to go very circumspectly 39 " to "see a brat and report to [Marat] on his condition Paul spends the remainder of the day in the town, completing the errands and generally biding his time.

When he returned to the house, a large crowd had gathered, whispering of the assassination of Marat. It was whispered that he had been killed, in his bath of all places, and by a young girl of all people. Upon Marat's finger was a ring, that Marat himself has said to be not worth stealing. Something about it caught his eye, and seeing no one looking, Paul takes the ring from Marat's cold, dead hand.

A random bystander accuses Mole of stealing from the dead, and after a vigorous search and paper-checking, Mole is found to be in order. Chauvelin, a member of the evil Committee of Public Safety, returns the papers to Mole, and is dumbfounded by a gaze at the face of Mole, who seems to remind him of someone Chauvelin orders his guard to arrest Mole and escort him to the prison, where Mole, is given his own private cell, complete with a hour armed guard.

Marat's former cook and maid-of-all-work pays Chauvelin a visit to inform him about Marat's 'adopted' child. She tells him all she knows about the child, such as the child's 'care-takers', the Leridans. With the story of the stolen child pieced together in his mind, Chauvelin heads out to talk to the cowardly couple. The power of the Committee made Chauvelin a feared man, and the Leridans vowed that no one would see the child except the fiend himself as long as they would not be harmed.

Chauvelin promised an armed guard of a dozen men around the house and left, with the Leridans felling quite safe. Chauvelin then convinced the Public Prosecutor that the man in the cell was in fact the Pimpernel with a note containing an English rhyme and a five-petaled flower, drawn in scarlet. To finish his rounds, the Representative Chauvelin made his way to the prison to check up on Sir Percy, and to get one last look at him.

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In one fleeting glance, Chauvelin didn't see the merry eyes of the Englishman, but bleary fish-like ones. The man in the cell was not the Scarlet Pimpernel, but he dismissed the look as that of the exhausted and over-worked. Satisfied, Chauvelin returns to the Leridans' house, where he finds the guards he had ordered. The woman Leridan then tells of how the soldiers had arrived three hours before Chauvelin had came to the house, while the soldiers say they arrived about two hours before the Citizen's arrival.

The woman then let on about how the soldiers had gone to bed inside the house. Upon inspection, the rooms were empty, and the child of Madeliene Lannoy was nowhere to be found. The Public Prosecutor heard a ring at the front door, which turned out to be a tall, well-dressed gentleman who requested conversation with the Prosecutor. Before he even knew what had happened, the visitor had gagged and bound him to a chair, and began to talk. He explains that there were two Paul Moles- one real and one fake. The fake one had befriended Marat and met Chauvelin, the fake one who had borrowed the original's papers, the fake one who had brought the real Paul Mole back to the house of Marat.

But it was the real one who Chauvelin had arrested and imprisoned. Later, while Chauvelin had left the Leridan's house, the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel had disguised themselves as members of the Surete, using their cover and the Leridans' terror to gain entry to the house, where they were given charge of the all-important child of Lannoy.

When the couple went to sleep, the 'Surete' left with the child well before the real soldiers arrived. They will return to Paris, He apparently hated aristocrats and the like so much, he was given the most important military post in the city of Paris, Porte Montmartre , which was also the most illegal traffic-heavy gate in the city. The last guard, Ferney, had let some traitors through the gate unaware of their identities, and was guillotined for his ignorance.

Not too great of an impression to start your first day with: But that wouldn't scare Bibot! No, "he feared no devil, nor any Englishman. Had the latter the strength of giants and the protection of every power of evil, Bibot was ready for him He even warns Bibot that the Scarlet Pimpernel is planning rescue the Duc and Duchesse de Montreux and ten of their closest friends from the Guillotine that night.

The group's spokesman, identified as citizen Durand, told that they were "carriers for Legrand, the market gardener of Barency ", who apparently supplies Paris with cabbages and potatoes. After much insisting and a few demands, the group finally relinquished their passports for inspection, even though Bibot knew every man in the group. Relieved to see Marat still at the tavern, Bibot turns the passports over to Marat for the inspection.

With everything found to be in order, the men are allowed to pass to pick up their deliveries for the next day. A few minutes later, a man on horseback approaches, stating that "six men are wanted by the Committee of Public Safety. They are disguised as carriers in the employ of a market gardener, and have passports for Barency! The passports are stolen: The house in which the couple lived was too far away from the port to attract travellers, so the only time the house was crowded was mid-day, when people would stop in on the way to or from port.

The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy Orczy - Free Ebook

One day, as the husband was putting up the shutters, someone came up to the house and knocked on the door. He and his men wanted food and rest, but made an odd request for lodgings. They desired a place where they could "lie hidden, and at the same time keep watch on the road The one in charge asserts that they are on the watch for the Scaret Pimpernel, who is going to Calais, the port, escorting an 'aristo', and that they will be the ones to catch him. Feeling vaguely suspicious, the husband, Hercule, left the house out the back door, and started the nine-mile hike to Calais, where he would alert the guard.

Just as he left, a group of soldiers challenged him. They asked about a group of four soldiers the same ones who were in the outhouse. Hercule pointed the way to the outhouse, and after a brief fight, the traitors in the outhouse were subdued. The victors returned, and the couple became very suspicious. They had a right to be, as they wer bound and gagged until the maid released them the following morning. The soldiers in the outhouse were found, bound and gagged, some wounded. The couple was arrested later in the day for aiding the Scarlet Pimpernel and his men.

I know that you [are] the intermediary Anges then mentions that she recieved a letter from Heriot, a vile member of the Committee, who passionately hates Agnes' fiancee, and says that he loves her. It then says that Heriot has more than enough evidence to send Agnes' fiancee to the guillotine, and that the only way to let her fiancee go free is to marry Heriot! Lepine visits Heriot at his home, and offers to pay him 2, francs for the incriminating letters.

Outraged, Heriot denies that he would accept , francs for the evidence. Sir Percy later meets with his friend Ffoulkes, to discuss another way to get the letters. They gained entry to the rooms without any problems, paying the housekeeper in gold coins. Ffoulkes picked open a chest which contained the letters they desired, when Percy heard a concerning noise: They are on the landing now Heriot brought home a few of his friends that he plays cards and dominoes with, and dismisses himself to write a letter. As Percy and Ffoulkes were hiding in the same room as Heriot was writing, this made it extremely easy for them to smother, gag, and bind Heriot in his chair, so no alarm would be raised.

Percy, imitating Heriot, called for the housekeeper, whom they bound and gagged also.

Adapting disguises of Heriot and the housekeeper, Percy and Ffoulkes attempt to stealthily exit the house, but are compromised when one of the men realizes that Heriot is not Heriot! After a brief chase, Percy locks the men inside Heriot's apartments, and procedes without a problem down the street with the letters. Agnes later recieves the letters of question, and rushes to thank Lepine, who must've been involved. But he was nowhere to be found. The son, Pierre, was a footman in the house of Marie Antoinette.

He would've been beheaded, if not for the Pimpernel and his League of valiant gentlemen. The father, Pere, is then suspected because of his son's escape from "justice". Percy, who visits the house, gave Pere the order to hide in a violin maker's house, where he would be safe.

As if the stress of hiding Pere wasn't enough, the women of the house, petite maman the mother and Rosette the daughter were horribly worried that Sir Percy himself was in danger.

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After receiving insistent answers of "no, he's not here", the guards turned the little house upside-down looking for places that could hide a man, but to no avail. Much later, after a long time in silence, a knock on the door brings Rouget, a harsh member of the Committee of Public Safety. He abuses the sergeant in the house, and then commands the sergeant to search the whole building for Pere and Sir Percy. Petite maman then made the decision to give up her husband's location in exchange for her and her daughter's safety. She lead the soldiers to the Rue Ste. Anne, where they found the wardrobe in which Pere was to be hiding in.

Just before they opened it, however, the Scarlet Pimpernel made his presence known, which paralyzed the genuine French soldiers in the room. Rouget's men then proceeded to bind and gag the real Republicans. Rouget tore a wig and mask off, to reveal himself as Sir Percy. The Lenegre family would be united in England, safe from the threats of the French Revolution. They wouldn't fit in the 20, character limit, anyway. Throughout the book, there's the constant theme of Good V.

Evil, which almost always boils down to the Scarlet Pimpernel good V. In the first, second, fourth, fifth, sixth, The whole bit about the theme wasn't that surprising to me, as most of the books from this era seem to have that system down, I'm looking at you, Holmes! A great prelude to the original Scarlet Pimpernel , I thank my English teacher for recommending it, and copyright laws for making this the best free book I've ever read.

Despite having published a dozen novels based on the exploits of her fanciful "Pimpernel" character, Orczy still chose to pen a set of short stories on the same theme. Whatever charm and entertainment may have brightened her original works certainly had grown stale by the time this collection was written. The plots are so patently absurd and the social commentary so one-sided as to overwhelm any sense of adventure left in the stories.

The wretched excesses, corruption, venality and mindless bruta Despite having published a dozen novels based on the exploits of her fanciful "Pimpernel" character, Orczy still chose to pen a set of short stories on the same theme. The wretched excesses, corruption, venality and mindless brutality of the men who quickly turned the French Revolution into their own blood-soaked orgy is well known; but I found myself gagging on Orczy's wistful admiration of the old aristocracy whose abuses triggered the whole mess in the first place. Pimpernel and his minions have long outstayed their welcome.

Jul 27, H. A series of short stories about the exploits of the Scarlet Pimpernel. Entertaining, but much the same as the others. My favorite was one told from the perspective of a third party. Orczy did a good job of making the stories build on each other. You learn an identity in one story, and that knowledge is key in the next. Made it feel more like reading a novel instead of a series of short stories.

I have to admit that I have grown out of the Scarlet Pimpernel a little bit. They were something I lov A series of short stories about the exploits of the Scarlet Pimpernel. They were something I loved in my tweens, but now it's a bit repetitive. However it's taken until now to find some of the novels. You know over the years I've sought him here, I've sought him there, this reader's sought him everywhere. Jun 15, Sharon rated it liked it.

This book takes place during the Reign of Terror in France. While the Committee of Public Safty is working to guillotine supporters of the aristocracy, the Scarlet Pimpernel and his associates are working even harder to save them and spirit them out of France to safety in England. Although the book becomes somewhat repetitious, I did enjoy it and would recommend it.

Jun 05, Cedar Lea rated it liked it. Overall, this was an interesting compilation of stories about the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel, a band of Englishmen who rescued aristocrats and other unfortunate souls who were destined for the guillotine during the French Revolution. I really enjoyed reading this book as I started, but about halfway through, my interest started to wane a bit. The stories become a bit repetitive - they all can be summarized to have a similar plot.

The League Of The Scarlet Pimpernel

There is some unfortunate soul being terrorized by the Committ Overall, this was an interesting compilation of stories about the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel, a band of Englishmen who rescued aristocrats and other unfortunate souls who were destined for the guillotine during the French Revolution. There is some unfortunate soul being terrorized by the Committee of Public Safety. All seems to be lost, until the Scarlet Pimpernel comes up with an elaborate plan to rescue them, always using some form of disguise to trick the villains and rescue the victims.

I pretty much skimmed the second half of the book. Another great book about the Scarlet Pimpernel.


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Feb 12, Alysen rated it really liked it. This was a good book. Not as good as The Scarlet Pimpernel, which is a personal favorite but a good read. This gives you short stories of some os the adventures and still fun read. Nov 17, Delynn Bodine rated it really liked it. Great book - very clever. Outfoxing Chauvelin during the French Revolution The Scarlet Pimpernel is both a flower of five crimson petals and an English Lord named Percy Blakeney, who uses that code name in France to smuggle aristocrats and their families away to safety from the French Revolution and the guillotine, into England.

The first novel The Scarlet Pimpernel is considered a classic of page, stage and screen, even though originally, the play and book were produced by the Hungarian Baroness Orczy and her British hu Outfoxing Chauvelin during the French Revolution The Scarlet Pimpernel is both a flower of five crimson petals and an English Lord named Percy Blakeney, who uses that code name in France to smuggle aristocrats and their families away to safety from the French Revolution and the guillotine, into England.

I didn't like this quite as much as the first book I'm afraid, but it was quite well written in places. It also brings to mind Objectivism quite strongly in some places! Baronness Orczy gives a rare depiction of a girl who dances on the streets as dejected instead of sexy. I think this would have been much easier for people of the time with a class consciousness to understand, than today, where a gender consciousness seems to have completely taken hold.

They were to be met with every day, round every street corner, these harridans, more terrible far than were the men. This one was still comparatively young, thirty at most; would have been good-looking too, for the features were really delicate, the nose chiselled, the brow straight, the chin round and small.

The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy Orczy

Heavens, what a mouth! Hard and cruel and thin-lipped; and those eyes! The crowd stood round her, sullen and apathetic; poor, miserable wretches like herself, staring at her antics with lack-lustre eyes and an ever-recurrent contemptuous shrug of the shoulders. The woman was dancing, contorting her body in the small circle of light formed by a flickering lanthorn which was hung across the street from house to house, striking the muddy pavement with her shoeless feet, all to the sound of a be-ribboned tambourine which she struck now and again with her small, grimy hand.

From time to time she paused, Someone who refuses to submit to the wishes of a villain just because they threaten harm - I'm sure the objectivists would love the Baroness he chooses to declare that it is I who, by rejecting his love, drove him to these foul extremities. May God forgive him that abominable lie! The evil we do, Monsieur, is within us; it does not come from circumstance. Perhaps this book is now a little bit out of its time Esther was no fool, nor was she unsophisticated. These were not times when it was possible for any girl, however carefully nurtured and tenderly brought up, to remain ignorant of the realities and the brutalities of life.

Even before Merri had put his abominable proposition before her, she knew what he was driving at. Marriage— marriage to him! The Scarlet Pimpernel Signet Classics. A Scarlet Pimpernel Adventure. Sir Percy Leads the Band. What other items do customers buy after viewing this item? Emmuska Baroness Orczy de Orczi. The League of the Scarlet Pimpernel: By Baroness Emmuska Orczy - Illustrated. Buccaneer Books June 1, Language: Related Video Shorts 0 Upload your video. Share your thoughts with other customers.

Write a customer review. Rated by customers interested in. Is this feature helpful? Thank you for your feedback. Read reviews that mention french adventure classic revolution romance percy orczy hero sir guillotine marguerite identity mystery baroness france blakeney aristocrats action english romantic. There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later. Kindle Edition Verified Purchase. Call me a hopeless romantic, but, more decades ago than I care to admit, I was smitten with this book and the film adaptation of it.

I home-school our daughter now, and she is the age I was 12 when first introduced to this book, so I decided to give it a re-read and let her enjoy it for her last week of school. As an adult, and a fairly no-nonsense one at that, I was happily surprised with how the story enchanted me once more, and my daughter could not put it down, either. Set against the backdrop of the French Revolution, the hero a mysterious character known only as "The Scarlet Pimpernel" daringly uses various disguises and other strategies to rescue aristocrats otherwise destined for Madame Guillotine. The book is full of intrigues and wranglings with questions like whether or not one life would be more valuable than another if it comes down to a choice.

It has inspired plenty of good discussions in our home about the French Revolution, what it means to behave in a noble manner, and "what would you do" if you were in the position of Marguerite, a woman who must choose between the life of her beloved brother and the life of The Scarlet Pimpernel.

The villain of the story, Chauvelin, tragically plays too close to the reality one can see around the world today Not only are we challenged to peek behind the mask to discover the identity of The Scarlet Pimpernel, but we are challenged to peek behind the mask of virtuous ideas used to cover the reality of extremism and hate. The story is old-fashioned in its sensibilities, so if you have no tolerance for that, you will not enjoy the adventure.

Like any good story, it is very entertaining and goes down easily, but it has some treasured solid nuggets to ponder for those so inclined. It was a breath of fresh air for me to re-visit this fun but solid read, which promotes virtues like courage and self-control--the promotion of which I generally observe to be lacking in most popular entertainment today. The book was a little slow to get started while it spent time introducing the main characters in the story. The mysterious leader, The Scarlett Pimpernel, gets his name from a piece of paper left behind whenever his band rescues someone, as the paper bears a small red flower found in England among other countries.

I enjoyed the book, as it lauded the efforts of men who did not stand idly by while others were in need. I also enjoyed the tension the author developed around Marguerite St. Just, a beautiful French actress, who married an English nobleman. Much of the story is told from her perspective to include events on in both France and England. The original has to be one of my all-time favorite tales, the first character in history to have a "secret identity".


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    6. I bought this volume to read the sequels, but of course you must begin with the first, because several of the characters are revisited and there is added depth to them based on what they went through. I would say they go in descending order of excellence, like a gentle glide-path of enjoyment: Get it, read it. You will not be disappointed if you have any romanticism and love of adventure in your heart.

    But would year-olds be able to wade through the challenging vocabulary of one of my all-time favorite books? Could they catch the subtleties of the relational subplot in this fast-paced adventure novel? Once introduced to the enigmatic hero, the Scarlet Pimpernel, who uses his wits and a series of unique disguises to rescue French aristocrats from the guillotine, my students were, like me, hooked.