1792. . . . The triumph of the French Revolution has been transformed into the Reign of Terror. Every day, new victims-aristocrats clinging to their former lives of privilege and noblesse oblige-are roughly hauled over the cobbled streets of Paris and delivered into the greedy clutches of Madame Guillotine. One Englishman, a mysterious swashbuckler known as the Scarlet Pimpernel, risks life and limb to rescue men, women and children who have become the helpless prey of France's fanatical ruling party. Master of disguise and intrigue, the Scarlet Pimpernel cuts one of the most dashing figures in the history of romance and adventure, eluding the French agent Chauvelin and beguiling the lovely Lady Marguerite Blakeney in this definitive classic.