The crown of violet (Oxford Bookworms Library)

(First edition 1952) - 'High up on a stone seat in the great open-air theatre of Athens, Alexis, son of Leon, watches the Festival of Plays - and dreams of seeing his own play on that famous stage. So, as the summer passes, Alexis writes his play for the next year's Festival. But then, with his friend Corinna, he learns that Athens has enemies - enemies who do not like Athenian democracy, and who are planning a revolution to end it all ...

|...| All over Athens the cocks were crowing, the sky was turning from dark-blue to oyster-grey, and the city was waking to one of its great events, the annual festival in the vast open-air theatre. Alexis, son of Leon, was full of anticipation as he dreamed of having his own plays performed there one day. But he was to be involved in more than playwriting before the day was over, for among the spectators at the horse race, by the light of the flaming torches, he heard Hippias, the arrogant dandy, and a stranger with a beaked nose and over-high cheekbones, plotting to overthrow the democracy of Athens. For the rest of the year, two things possessed Alexis: his comedy The Gadfly, and the plans he laid with his friend Corinna to trap the conspirators and save his beloved city. His exultation and anxiety grew together as the fateful Theatre Festival arrived once more. Geoffrey Trease has combined a fast-moving dramatic story with a vivid and accurate picture of a great historical period'.'

This series of "Bookworms" offers younger readers the chance to enjoy lively and accessible adaptations of the best classic and modern fiction. Each title is highly illustrated to engage the reader in the world of the book and help with specific vocabulary. Accompanying exercises make all these titles suitable for use in class or at home.

[About the Author] Geoffrey Trease (1909-1998) has been a teacher and a journalist and has written more than a hundred books, many of them historical adventure novels for young people.

Drama / Aventura / História / Romance / Literatura Estrangeira / Infantojuvenil