Just before sailing off to war in the Sudan, British guardsman Harry Feversham quits his regiment. He immediately receives four white feathers-symbols of cowardice-one each from his three best friends and his fiancée. To disprove this grave dishonor, Harry dons an Arabian disguise and leaves for the Sudan, where he anonymously comes to the aid of his three friends, saving each of their lives. Having proved his bravery, Harry returns to England, hoping to regain the love and respect of his fiancée. This suspenseful tale movingly depicts a distinctive code of honor that was deeply valued and strongly promoted by the British during the height of their imperial power....

Alfred Edward Woodley Mason (1865-1948) was a British author. He studied at Dulwich College and graduated from Trinity College, Oxford in 1888. His first novel, A Romance of Wastdale, was published in 1895. He is the author of more than twenty books, among them The Four Feathers, originally published in London in 1902. His next successful work was At the Villa Rose (1910), where he introduced his French detective, Hanaud. He was elected as a Liberal Member of Parliament for Coventry in the 1906 general election. He served only a single term in Parliament, retiring at the next general election in January 1910. He contributed a short story, The Conjurer, to The Queen's Book of the Red Cross. His other works include The Philanderers (1897), Miranda of the Balcony (1899), Clementina (1901), Ensign Knightley and Other Stories (1901), The Four Feathers (1902), Running Water (1907), The Witness for the Defence (1913), The Summons (1920), No Other Tiger (1927), The Prisoner in the Opal (1929), Fire Over England (1937) and The House of the Arrow (1924)....