The Hidden Prince of Oz The Hidden Prince of Oz The Hidden Prince of Oz is a novel written by Gina Wickwar and illustrated by Anna-Maria Cool. As its title indicates, the book is an entrant into the series of Oz books by L. Frank Baum and his many successors. The publication of the book was timed to coincide with the centennial of the original Oz book, "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" (as was also true of Edward Einhorn's "Paradox in Oz" and Dave Hardenbrook's "The Unknown Witches of Oz"). It was the winner of the Club's Centennial book contest, which received over 100 entries
Political interpretations of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz people (and even the Good Witches) into believing he is benevolent, wise, and powerful when really he is a selfish, evil humbug. He sends Dorothy into severe danger hoping she will rid him of his enemy the Wicked Witch of the West. He is powerless and, as he admits to Dorothy, "I'm a very bad Wizard". Hugh Rockoff suggested in 1990 that the novel was an allegory about the demonetization of silver in 1873, whereby “the cyclone that carried Dorothy to the Land of Oz represents the economic and political upheaval, the yellow brick road stands for the gold standard,