The Mad King

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The Mad King
Dust jacket from the first edition of The Mad King
Author	Edgar Rice Burroughs
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre(s)	Ruritanian romance
Publisher	A.C. McClurg
Publication date	1926
Media type	Print (Hardback)
Pages	296 pp (hardback edition)
ISBN	NA
Followed by	The Eternal Lover

'The Mad King is a novel by "Tarzan" creator Edgar Rice Burroughs, originally published in two parts as "The Mad King" and "Barney Custer of Beatrice" in All-Star Weekly, in 1914 and 1915, respectively. These were combined for the book edition, first published in hardcover by A. C. McClurg in 1926. The story is Burrough's version of the then popular Ruritanian romance exemplified by Anthony Hope's The Prisoner of Zenda and its sequel Rupert of Hentzau. Set in Europe immediately before and during World War I, Burroughs' story differs from the Hope books in a number of details, though sharing much of their basic plot.

[edit] Plot summary

Set in the mythical European kingdom of Lutha, the protagonist is a young American named Barney Custer, of Beatrice, Nebraska, who is the son of an American farmer and a runaway Luthan princess, Victoria Rubinroth. Unaware of his royal blood, Barney visits Lutha on the eve of the First World War to see for himself his mother's native land. As he arrives in Lutha, the real king, Leopold has just escaped from his ten years' imprisonment at the hands of his scheming uncle, Prince Peter of Blentz. Barney meets and falls in love with Princess Emma Von Der Tann, Leopold's promised bride and then becomes intimately involved in Luthan affairs, working to help the king and ultimately allowing himself to be proclaimed as king to prevent Prince Peter from seizing the throne. He finally succeeds in foiling Peter's plans to become king himself by rescuing and fighting for the real king. Unfortunately, after his coronation, King Leopold discovers the shared love between Barney and Princess Emma, and Barney is forced to leave Lutha, mimicking the flight of his father years earlier, though his father left with a princess- Barney has only a soldier. Thus ends part one.

In the second part of the novel, the European skies are darkening as World War I has begun. In Lutha, King Leopold has proven himself to be a bad ruler and has not yet persuaded Princess Emma to marry him. In Nebraska, Barney's companion leaves the farm to return to Lutha. Barney himself is attacked by one of Prince Peter's henchmen and he decides to return to Lutha as well. After an adventurous trip across war-torn Europe, which includes being mistaken for a spy by the Austrians and barely escaping a firing squad, Barney finally reaches Lutha, where he once again is forced to play king in order to save Lutha from the advancing Austrians. He makes a diplomatic alliance with Serbia, and defeats the Austrians in person, thereby saving Lutha. The real king Leopold, who has been his antagonist throughout the second part of the novel is mistaken for Barney and killed by one of Prince Peter's henchmen. Barney then consents to remain as king of Lutha, married at last to Princess Emma.

The main difference between this story and Hope's two books is the portrayal of the rightful king as an actual antagonist to Barney, especially in the second part of the book, where he is as much a villain as Prince Peter and the Austrians. The other significant difference of course is the fact that the protagonist lives happily ever after with his princess, unlike the far more tragic ending of the "Zenda" series. Also, in The Mad King, Prince Peter is a clear villain, unlike the more nuanced Duke Michael, who apparently is popular with the commoners. In Burroughes's story to role of the common people's hero is taken by a secondard character, Prince Von Der Tann; Prince Peter is universally reviled.

[edit] Historical background

Like Hope's Ruritania, Lutha is portrayed as a small European kingdom, though it lacks the social strife evident in Hope's novels. However, its location is quite easy to find, as Burroughs describes it as being between Austria and Serbia. Also unlike Hope's Ruritanian novels, "The Mad King" is set in a real world situation. Lutha is surrounded by Austria and Serbia and her circumstances mirror those of many Balkan nations forced to choose sides in the opening phase of the First World war. Burroughs also clearly chooses sides in the conflict, portraying Austria (and by extension her German allies) as the bad guys. Serbia is represented as being a good power.

[edit] Sequels

The Eternal Lover, a collection of two short stories written in 1925, has as its protagonist Barney's sister Virginia Custer. These stories take place between Barney's two Luthan adventures, when he and his sister are the guests of Tarzan on the latter's African estate. When cave man Nu is released from suspended animation, Virginia discovers that she is the reincarnation of his great love Nat-ul. The story covers her adventures with Nu.

v • d • e Works of Edgar Rice Burroughs

Tarzan novels	Tarzan of the Apes (1912) • The Return of Tarzan (1913) • The Beasts of Tarzan (1914) • The Son of Tarzan (1915) • Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar (1916) • Tarzan the Terrible (1921) • Tarzan and the Golden Lion (1922/23) • Tarzan and the Ant Men (1924) • Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle (1927/28) • Tarzan and the Lost Empire (1928/29) • Tarzan at the Earth's Core (1929/30) • Tarzan the Invincible (1930/31) • Tarzan Triumphant (1931/32) • Tarzan and the City of Gold (1932) • Tarzan and the Lion Man (1933/34) • Tarzan and the Leopard Men (1932/33) • Tarzan's Quest (1935/36) • Tarzan and the Forbidden City (1938) • Tarzan and the Foreign Legion (1947) • Tarzan and the Madman (1964) • Tarzan and the Castaways (1941) • Tarzan: the Lost Adventure (1995)

Tarzan collections	Jungle Tales of Tarzan (1919) • Tarzan the Untamed (1920) • Tarzan the Magnificent (1939) • Tarzan and the Tarzan Twins (1963) • Tarzan and the Castaways (1965)

Tarzan short stories	Tarzan's First Love (1916) • The Capture of Tarzan (1916) • The Fight for the Balu (1916) • The God of Tarzan (1916) • Tarzan and the Black Boy (1917) • The Witch-Doctor Seeks Vengeance (1917) • The End of Bukawai (1917) • The Lion (1917) • The Nightmare (1917) • The Battle for Teeka (1917) • A Jungle Joke (1917) • Tarzan Rescues the Moon (1917) • Tarzan the Untamed (1919) • Tarzan and the Valley of Luna (1920) • The Tarzan Twins (1927) • Tarzan and the Tarzan Twins with Jad-Bal-Ja the Golden Lion (1936) • Tarzan and the Magic Men (1936) • Tarzan and the Elephant Men (1937/38) • Tarzan and the Champion (1940) • Tarzan and the Jungle Murders (1940)

Other jungle adventure	The Cave Girl (1925) • The Eternal Lover (1925) • Jungle Girl (1932) • The Man Eater (1935) • The Lad and the Lion (1938)

Martian series	A Princess of Mars (1917) • The Gods of Mars (1918) • The Warlord of Mars (1919) • Thuvia, Maid of Mars (1920) • The Chessmen of Mars (1922) • The Master Mind of Mars (1928) • A Fighting Man of Mars (1931) • Swords of Mars (1936) • Synthetic Men of Mars (1940) • Llana of Gathol (1948) • John Carter of Mars (1964)

Pellucidar series	At the Earth's Core (1914) • Pellucidar (1915) • Tanar of Pellucidar (1929) • Tarzan at the Earth's Core (1929) • Back to the Stone Age (1937) • Land of Terror (1944) • Savage Pellucidar (1963)

Venus series	Pirates of Venus (1934) • Lost on Venus (1935) • Carson of Venus (1939) • Escape on Venus (1946) • Wizard of Venus (1964)

Other science fiction	Beyond Thirty (1916) • The Land That Time Forgot (1918) • The People That Time Forgot (1918) • Out of Time’s Abyss (1918) • The Moon Maid (1926) • The Monster Men (1929) • The Resurrection of Jimber-Jaw (1937) • Beyond the Farthest Star (1941)

Westerns	The Bandit of Hell's Bend (1926) • The War Chief (1927) • Apache Devil (1933) • The Deputy Sheriff of Comanche County (1940)

Historical novels	The Outlaw of Torn (1914/1927) • I Am a Barbarian (1967)

Other works	The Mucker (1914/16) • The Girl from Farris's (1916) • The Oakdale Affair (1917) • The Efficiency Expert (1921) • The Girl from Hollywood (1923) • The Mad King (1926) • The Rider (1937) • Pirate Blood (1970) • Minidoka: 937th Earl of One Mile Series M (1998) • Marcia of the Doorstep (1999) • You Lucky Girl! (1999) • Forgotten Tales of Love and Murder (2001)