SOURCE: "Anthony Hope," in Some English Story Tellers: A Book of the Younger Novelists, Henry Holt and Company, 1912, pp. 232-51.

In the following excerpt, Cooper praises Hope's literary technique, and his ability to write well consistently in different genres.

It is a sufficiently pleasant task to undertake to write a brief appreciation of Mr. Anthony Hope. The prevailing urbanity of his manner, the sustained sparkle of his wit, the agreeable expectation that he arouses of something stimulating about to happen, largely disarm criticism. Besides, he does not seem to demand to be taken too seriously; he is not a preacher or reformer, he is not trying to revolutionize the world; he is too well pleased with men and women as they actually are, to desire to make them something different. In short, he is a suave and charming public entertainer, and like all wise entertainers he alters the...