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The Mouse That Roared #4
The Mouse That Saved the West
The fourth book in the bestselling The Mouse That Roared series brings the Duchy of Grand Fenwick's most extraordinary achievement yet--the defeat of OPEC and the happy solution to the world's oil crisis, which came about through the best that international diplomacy has to offer: duplicity and dumb luck.
It all began when the Count of Mountjoy, the prime minister of Grand Fenwick, was unable to get a hot bath because of the fuel shortage...
Books in The Mouse That Roared Series:
Books 2 through 5 are best read after The Mouse That Roared, but all of the books can be read and enjoyed at any point in the series.
Book 1: The Mouse That Roared (Available on Kindle)
Book 2: The Mouse On The Moon (Available on Kindle)
Book 3: The Mouse On Wall Street (Available on Kindle)
Book 4: The Mouse That Saved The West (Available on Kindle)
Book 5: Beware Of The Mouse (A Prequel to The Mouse That Roared) (Coming soon on Kindle...)
It all began when the Count of Mountjoy, the prime minister of Grand Fenwick, was unable to get a hot bath because of the fuel shortage...
Books in The Mouse That Roared Series:
Books 2 through 5 are best read after The Mouse That Roared, but all of the books can be read and enjoyed at any point in the series.
Book 1: The Mouse That Roared (Available on Kindle)
Book 2: The Mouse On The Moon (Available on Kindle)
Book 3: The Mouse On Wall Street (Available on Kindle)
Book 4: The Mouse That Saved The West (Available on Kindle)
Book 5: Beware Of The Mouse (A Prequel to The Mouse That Roared) (Coming soon on Kindle...)
201 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 1, 1981
9 people are currently reading
134 people want to read
About the author
Leonard Wibberley
153 books40 followersAlso wrote under his full name Leonard Patrick O'Connor Wibberley and under
Patrick O'Connor as well as pseudonyms Christopher Webb and Leonard Holton
Patrick O'Connor as well as pseudonyms Christopher Webb and Leonard Holton
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
July 5, 2020
A little darker than the rest, and not quite as funny, this fourth book in the series feels like a rehash. The tiny country in the Alps is at the center of defeating OPEC and ending the energy crisis, just as they had been at the center of the space race and the bubblegum sales boom. The finale of the original four book series, and it probably went on one too long.
May 20, 2024
Satire doesn't always age well. The very specific political and economic realities of the oil crises that informed this book can be difficult to empathize with forty years on and the ending is more "Rah Rah Capitalism!" than I can take in this day and age.
That said, there is still some very fun and funny writing to be found. Wibberley was a decent humorist.
That said, there is still some very fun and funny writing to be found. Wibberley was a decent humorist.
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January 6, 2020An enjoyable satire presented to us courtesy of the Grand Fenwick series. The world is on the brink of muddling up yet again, and Mountjoy & Co. again innocently throw a spanner into world economics in their earnest quest for a hot bath and tea.
October 11, 2017
Not the best book in the Grand Fenwick series but I'm not sure how much is simply the date (1981/2). Without the classic 50s/60s cold war era feel the story seemed lacking somehow. That and the passing of Tully Bascomb some years prior. It just felt kinda sad reading about all the classic characters as they've gotten older. Even Dr. Kokintz seems out of it.
Still, I enjoyed this one too. The writing of Leonard Wibberley is, as always, captivating and the story, while somewhat predictable, still manages to deliver some surprises and twists.
If you enjoyed the previous books, you'll probably like this one too.
Still, I enjoyed this one too. The writing of Leonard Wibberley is, as always, captivating and the story, while somewhat predictable, still manages to deliver some surprises and twists.
If you enjoyed the previous books, you'll probably like this one too.
August 9, 2020
Interesting, but predictable. Also the sub-plot involving the Saudi prince was unnecessary and distracting.
March 4, 2023
This time Leonard Wibberley tackles the Oil Crisis of the early 1980s, which is solved by the wit and wisdom of the inhabitants of the Duchy of Grand Fenwick.
October 6, 2024
Written during the 1970s oil crunch, this is a book that in 2024, only an oil executive can love. It has NOT aged well.
October 9, 2024
jedno z najgorszych zakończeń jakie widziałem, apoteoza kapitalizmu
September 20, 2017
I found this inferior to the first two books, and it suffers from Author On Board with lots of lectures and anti-market propaganda
April 17, 2008
Ah, the Mouse that Poured! Once more Count Mountjoy has stepped up to save the world from itself. He is a master at old world statecraft, he just has trouble getting the rest of the world to remember this. Sadly a dated story in someways but it still has enough that is witty and charming.
It is set in the 70's oil crisis. The market is being manipulated by business moguls, politicians, and OPEC for their benefit at the expense of the common person and Gran Fenwick. The count devises a plan to restore Gran Fenwick's central heating and manages to restore stability to a tottering system on the way. But this time the end fails to justify the means. Dr Kokinz's final invention, bird water or sonic fusion in a carbohydrate residue, a source of endless cheap energy should never have been destroyed. Instead the Count supplied the world with cheap oil drilled and sold at cost to force price gouging to cease but maintaining the hydrocarbon energy dependence. Of course global warming was not really talked of in 1980 when this book was written.
It was interesting that Wibberley wrote this before Ponds & Fleischman thought they had found Cold Fusion (eight years after the book was written). Then with even more prescience the Bubble fusion where Rusi Taleyarkhan said bombarding a solvent with neutrons and sound waves produced tiny bubbles that triggered nuclear fusion reactions. Sonic cavitations.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_fusion
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubble_f...
Wibberley's personal favorites from among his books were his African trilogy--The Road from Toomi, Meeting with a Great Beast, and The Last Stand of Father Felix.
It is set in the 70's oil crisis. The market is being manipulated by business moguls, politicians, and OPEC for their benefit at the expense of the common person and Gran Fenwick. The count devises a plan to restore Gran Fenwick's central heating and manages to restore stability to a tottering system on the way. But this time the end fails to justify the means. Dr Kokinz's final invention, bird water or sonic fusion in a carbohydrate residue, a source of endless cheap energy should never have been destroyed. Instead the Count supplied the world with cheap oil drilled and sold at cost to force price gouging to cease but maintaining the hydrocarbon energy dependence. Of course global warming was not really talked of in 1980 when this book was written.
It was interesting that Wibberley wrote this before Ponds & Fleischman thought they had found Cold Fusion (eight years after the book was written). Then with even more prescience the Bubble fusion where Rusi Taleyarkhan said bombarding a solvent with neutrons and sound waves produced tiny bubbles that triggered nuclear fusion reactions. Sonic cavitations.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_fusion
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubble_f...
Wibberley's personal favorites from among his books were his African trilogy--The Road from Toomi, Meeting with a Great Beast, and The Last Stand of Father Felix.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 17, 2016
A little darker than the rest but as satirically comic..
March 6, 2025
The world is suffering from an oil crisis. Mountjoy, who’s become the main protagonist of the series, feels the need to step in when he becomes personally affected.
This fourth book in the series is a bit less implausible than the second, and a bit more lively than the third; it remains a pleasant read.
Tully Bascombe, the rather likeable hero of the first book, was sidelined in the next two books, and is now unceremoniously deleted: we’re told that he died ten years ago, without even a mention of what he died of. Duchess Gloriana, his wife for ten years, mentions him once with a trace of regret, but that’s that. Apparently, after he led the successful invasion of the USA, the author couldn’t find another use for him.
This fourth book in the series is a bit less implausible than the second, and a bit more lively than the third; it remains a pleasant read.
Tully Bascombe, the rather likeable hero of the first book, was sidelined in the next two books, and is now unceremoniously deleted: we’re told that he died ten years ago, without even a mention of what he died of. Duchess Gloriana, his wife for ten years, mentions him once with a trace of regret, but that’s that. Apparently, after he led the successful invasion of the USA, the author couldn’t find another use for him.
January 13, 2011
A disappointing end to the series. Events of the previous novels are either convoluted, contradicted or conveniently ignored; the central 'deus ex machina' that has been a feature of the novels is shunted aside for over 100 pages and is made into a coda rather than a conclusion; and the concepts of Middle Eastern politics are shockingly naive. The best part of the book is the delightfully prescient description of the folly of bio-fuel - its inefficiency and its threat to food supplies both direct and indirect.
August 30, 2008
The fourth book in the Mouse series, this is one of the weaker entries. Wibberley predates the current energy crisis and attempts to explain the dangers of it, yet the energy and wit that were in both Roared and Saved the West are sadly lacking here. Not only is the premise shaky, the conclusion is not feasible. Not really recommended, although it is nice to see the Duchy back in action.
November 2, 2015
Bath water and washing machines
Dated political situation concerning oil, but revealing important thoughts about oil supply and free energy. Not only witty and laugh out loud funny, little gems of wisdom concerning diplomacy are tossed out for deeper thought. Was obviously written during the OPEC oil situation which resulted in the gasoline shortages and long gas lines at the stations. Very enjoyable.
Dated political situation concerning oil, but revealing important thoughts about oil supply and free energy. Not only witty and laugh out loud funny, little gems of wisdom concerning diplomacy are tossed out for deeper thought. Was obviously written during the OPEC oil situation which resulted in the gasoline shortages and long gas lines at the stations. Very enjoyable.
April 9, 2010
Amusing book,about how the Grand Duchy of Fenwick decides to do what it can during the oil crisis of the 70's.
Not the best of the series, but there are no bad Fenwick books. This just feels a bit formulaic.
Not the best of the series, but there are no bad Fenwick books. This just feels a bit formulaic.
June 14, 2009
The Mouse enters the space race. Fun, but not as good as the others.
September 26, 2015
A breezy read that proves that the price of oil may have have change over the years but the politics sure haven't.
October 16, 2015
Another funny installment in the mouse series. Looking forward to the ebook release of Beware of the Mouse (a prequel to The Mouse That Roared).
January 13, 2021
These books are so funny.
Book 4 does not disappoint. Grand Fenwick saves the world. Again.
Book 4 does not disappoint. Grand Fenwick saves the world. Again.
June 21, 2018
Fun, quick books.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews