The Inca of Perusalem by Bernard Shaw

George Bernard Shaw's The Inca of Perusalem is a wartime satire that turns imperial pomp, patriotic myth, and social pretension into sparkling comedy. It opens with a prologue defending the right to mock enemies in time of war, then introduces impoverished aristocrats, hotel staff reduced by economic collapse, and a princess so sheltered she barely understands the modern world. Against this backdrop, the practical and formidable Ermyntrude navigates money troubles, class anxiety, and the absurd rituals of politeness while being hired as a lady's maid. The play's comic center is a series of fast-talking encounters in which Ermyntrude confronts shabby service, a pompous manager, and an officer who may be the Inca himself in disguise. The Inca arrives as a dazzling figure of vanity and self-importance, boasting about his moustache, his genius, and the sons he offers in marriage, even as he admits his generals are mediocre and hereditary rule is outdated. Shaw uses mistaken identity, matrimonial bargaining, and political absurdity to expose the fragility of power, the emptiness of dynasties, and the strange theatricality of leadership in a world strained by war. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.