Andrew
Easy to see why this story was so popular it spawned an entire genre of "Romantic, Swashbuckling Adventures Set in Vaguely Germanic Fictional European Countries." It also, along with The Prince and the Pauper, established the trope of an uncanny lookalike having to impersonate a public figure in order to keep up appearances.
Despite being well over a hundred years old, it's still an easy, entertaining, witty, and action-packed read that flies by.
Easy to see why this story was so popular it spawned an entire genre of "Romantic, Swashbuckling Adventures Set in Vaguely Germanic Fictional European Countries." It also, along with The Prince and the Pauper, established the trope of an uncanny lookalike having to impersonate a public figure in order to keep up appearances.
Despite being well over a hundred years old, it's still an easy, entertaining, witty, and action-packed read that flies by.