The first and most successful in the Baroness's series of books that feature Percy Blakeney, who leads a double life as an English fop and a swashbuckling rescuer of aristocrats, The Scarlet Pimpernel was the blueprint for what became known as the masked-avenger genre. As Anne Perry writes in her Introduction, the novel "has almost reached its first centenary, and it is as vivid and appealing as ever because the plotting is perfect. It is a classic...

"It is the early days of the French Republic, and Robespierre's revolutionaries find their wicked schemes are repeatedly being thwarted. It appears that Sir Percy Blakeney--the cunning and heroic Pimpernel--is more than a match for them all. But Sir Percy's spy-catching arch-enemy, Chauvelin, has devised a plan. In this swashbuckling sequel to The Scarlet Pimpernel, Sir Percy attempts to smuggle French aristocrats out of the country to safety, while...