Stanley J. Weyman (pronounced Wyman), best known as a writer of historical romances, enjoyed his greatest popularity during the decades before and after the turn of the century. Known as "the English Dumas," he carried on the tradition established by such novelists as Alexandre Dumas père and Sir Walter Scott. His best novels offer absorbing characterizations and suspense against a backdrop of political and/or religious turmoil in either England or France. For historical accuracy Weyman drew upon the memoirs, letters, and diaries of real personages for much of his material. He was admired not only for his well-planned, exciting plots, but also for the descriptions of individual characters and of mob behavior present in almost every novel. During the 1890s he was immensely popular, producing twelve novels in that decade. At least three of these novels were made into plays and motion pictures, with one...