Tarzan of the Apes and the Prisoner of Zenda

Edgar Rice Burroughs was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1875. After serving a short time in the 7th U.S. Cavalry, Burroughs was a shopkeeper, gold miner, cowboy, and policeman before becoming a full-time writer. His first novel, Tarzan of the Apes, was published in 1914, and along with its 22 sequels has sold over 30 million copies in 58 languages. Author of numerous other jungle and science fiction novels and novellas, including The Land That Time Forgot, Burroughs had a writing career that spanned almost 30 years, with his last novel, The Land of Terror, being published in 1941. He died in 1950 at his ranch near Tarzana, the California town named for his legendary hero.
Gore Vidal was born Eugene Luther Vidal in 1925, later adopting the surname of his grandfather, Senator Thomas Gore, as his first name. He is the author of numerous novels-the first, Williwaw, written when he was twenty-one-as well as scripts for film, television and the stage, including the extremely successful The Best Man and Visit to a Small Planet. He is perhaps best known for his historical novels, including Burr (1973), 1876 (1976), and Lincoln (1984). He won the National Book Award in 1993 for his book of essays, United States (1952-1992).

Anthony Hope is the pseudonym of Anthony Hope Hawkins, a successful and prolific author of fiction and drama. The son of a school headmaster, Hope was born in London in 1863. While practicing law, Hope also experimented with creative writing, and he published his first novel, a political satire entitled A Man of Mark, at his own expense in 1890. With the publication of his most famous novel, The Prisoner of Zenda, in 1894, Hope abandoned his legal career to write full-time, penning the short story collection The Heart of Princess Osra (1896), and the Zenda sequel, Rupert of Hentzau (1898). Throughout his productive life, Hope published a wide variety of fiction, in areas ranging from the light domestic comedy of The Dolly Dialogues (1894) to the more serious fiction of Simon Dole (1889). He died on July 8, 1933.

Tarzan of the Apes
Edgar Rice Burroughs
With an Introduction by Gore Vidal
Set amid the vibrant colors and sounds of the African jungle, this classic work has beckoned generations of readers toward a glorious journey of pure adventure. This is the story of the ape-man Tarzan, raised in the wild, and how he learns the secrets of the jungle to survive. When his paradise is invaded by white men, Tarzan's life changes. Speaking directly to our childhood fantasies, Tarzan of the Apes takes us to that faraway place in our minds where dreams prevail-and where we too can be masters of our environment.

The Prisoner of Zenda
Anthony Hope
With an Introduction by Justin Kaplan

A perilous impersonation, a forbidden romance, a bold rescue, and a battle to the death against a malevolent foe in his ancient lair-these form the key elements in one of the greatest and most irresistible novels of adventure ever written. In the mythical kingdom of Ruritania, Rudolf Rassendyll is called upon to impersonate the abducted heir to the throne-and he soon finds himself engaged to a beautiful princess whom he can love only while living a lie. Between its vivid emotion and unflagging action, The Prisoner of Zenda is the ultimate reading experience for those who seek to escape into a world of danger, daring, and noble deeds.

Two classic novels in one volume feature Burroughs's "Tarzan of the Apes," in which an English boy raised by apes in the jungles of Africa meets human beings for the first time, and Hope's "The Prisoner of Zenda," in which a young man falls in love with a princess while trying to rescue her father, the King of Zenda.