The Forty-Five Guardsmen

Alexandre Dumas

The Forty-Five Guardsmen, by Alexandre Dumas (1894), the most celebrated of French romance writers, is in two volumes, and is the third of a series known as The Valois Romances. It basically deals with Diana de Meridor and her servant Remy who find a way to take revenge upon Duc dAnjou for his heinous betrayal of Bussy dAmboise. Historically it commences with the execution of Salcede and the arrival of the Forty-Five at Paris and deals with the Guise intrigues, the campaign of Anjou in Flanders and his death; the events in the novel take place in 1584-1585. Alexandre Dumas The Forty-Five Guardsmen, which has been translated into several languages, tells a wonderful story, full of the rich historical detail, rousing action, and gripping characters that mark the best of Dumas work.

The Hero of the People. A Historical Romance of Love, Liberty and Loyalty

Alexandre Dumas

An adventure is something that happens outside the course of ordinary life. We cant go on an adventure all the time, but an adventure story will take you right to that adventure. With no time to scout for a library, now these books are at our fingertips. The Hero of the People is the fifth book in the fictional series on the French Revolution by the famous French author Alexandre Dumas. Alexandre Dumas is known for penning many masterpieces of historical fiction, including The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers. The story takes place following the book Taking the Basile and is followed by The Royal Life Guard. The tale, set in the waning days of the French Revolution, tweaks Dumas classic formula by adding a little more romance to the equation. With action, adventure, intrigue, and blossoming love, this story truly has something for every reader.

The Last Vendée. Or, The She-Wolves of Machecoul

Alexandre Dumas

The scene takes place in 1832, just 40 years after the fall of the royal family and about 15 years after the fall of Napoleon. There are we have characters who are designed to fight, perhaps for the last time, to ask the royal family again. This book focuses on a specific area in France, not in France as a whole.

The Man in the Iron Mask

Alexandre Dumas

The Man in the Iron Mask is the final episode in the cycle of novels featuring Dumas celebrated foursome of DArtagnan, Athos, Porthos and Aramis, who first appeared in The Three Musketeers. Some thirty-five years on, the bonds of comradeship are under strain as they end up on different sides in a power struggle that may undermine the young Louis XIV and change the face of the French monarchy. Unbeknownst to DArtagnan, Aramis and Porthos plot to remove the inept king and place the kings twin brother on the throne of France. Meanwhile, deep inside the dreaded Bastille, a young twenty-three-year-old prisoner known only as Philippe has languished, his face hidden from all, for eight long years. He knows neither his true identity nor the crime that got him there. When the destinies of the king and Phillippe converge, the Three Musketeers and DArtagnan find themselves caught between conflicting loyalties...

The Mesmerists Victim

Alexandre Dumas

Set in Paris during the French Revolution, The Mesmerists Victim tells the story of two star-crossed lovers whose romance blooms at an extremely inopportune moment in European history. Will they be able to find happiness together, or will they be swallowed up in the tumult of radical political and social change? The Mesmerists Victim is the second in Dumas fictional series on the French Revolution. The story continues the tale where Memoirs of a Physician left off. This is the second in Dumas series on the retelling of the French Revolution. Alexandre Dumas was a French writer whose works have been translated into nearly 100 languages. His historical novels include The Count of Monte Cristo, The Three Musketeers, The Corsican Brothers, and The Man in the Iron Mask.

The Prussian Terror

Alexandre Dumas

This action-packed novel is a warning. Its main character, the young Frenchman Benedict Thurpin the newly-minted dArtagnan, daredevil, wit, Breter, warrior, painter, palmist, hunter, gallant gentleman, personification of the spirit of France like a volunteer fighting Prussians and performing extraordinary feats.

The Queens Necklace

Alexandre Dumas

French author of famous swashbuckler novels Alexandre Dumas again chooses 18th century France for his milieu. No musketeers in this one, for it is the Queen, Marie Antoinette, who needs defending. Set a few years before the deluge of the French Revolution this plot is convoluted beyond belief; schemes, counter-measures, vicious personal agendas, love-struck young people, royal revenge and ecclesiastical machinations all are present. Fans of historical fiction will love The Queens Necklace Dumas gripping retelling of the Affair of the Necklace a suspicious incident of theft in the court of Louis XVI. This episode further spoiled the already-tarnished reputation of the Queen. Although seeming to present an idealized picture of Marie Antoinette, it also illustrates the decay and impending decline of the contemporary nobility. Some experts say set into motion a chain of events that resulted in the eventual downfall of the monarchy.

The Regents Daughter

Alexandre Dumas

Philippe dOrléans, regent of France, although having a hard time with his two daughters and a son, wants to take care of another young girl, his illegitimate and hidden daughter, Helene de Chaverny, raised in a convent as an orphan. Helene, who ignores his parentage, is in love with Chevalier Gaston de Chanley, a conspirator who has sworn an oath to a cabal of plotting Bretons to murder their enemy, the prince regent Philippe Duc DOrleans. Young lovers, eager to get married, head towards the Paris unaware of the dramatic tangle that is played around them. A sequel to The Conspirators, this thrilling romantic adventure is reminiscent of Dumass seminal Three Musketeers saga, and will not disappoint those looking for an exciting tale of adventure, romance, royalty, intrigue, misfortune, and love.

The Royal Life Guard. A Historical Romance of the Suppression of the French Monarchy

Alexandre Dumas

The Royal Life Guard A Historical Romance of the Suppression of the French Monarchy is a historical romance of the suppression of the French monarchy. France had been changed to a limited monarchy from an absolute one, and King Louis XVI had solemnly sworn to defend the new Constitution. But it had been remarked by shrewd observers that he had not attended the Te Deum at the Paris Cathedral, with the members of the National Assembly: that is, he would tell a lie but not commit perjury. Fans of classic historical fiction will delight in this gem from Alexandre Dumas, author of such masterpieces as The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers. Bringing together fast-paced action and a richly detailed look at life in a bygone era, The Royal Life Guard merits a place on your must-read list.

The Three Musketeers

Alexandre Dumas

The Three Musketeers (French: Les Trois Mousquetaires) is a historical adventure novel written in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. Set in 16251628 when France is under threat, it recounts the adventures of a young nobleman named dArtagnan after he leaves home to travel to Paris, to join the Musketeers of the Guard. Although dArtagnan is not able to join this elite corps immediately, he befriends the three most formidable musketeers of the age the mysterious Athos, bumbling Porthos and ambitious and romantic Aramis who lived under the French kings Louis XIII and Louis XIV, who reigned during the 17th and early 18th centuries and gets involved in affairs of the state and court. Together the friends must use all their guile and ingenuity to outwit the dastardly schemes of the powerful Cardinal Richelieu and the glamorous spy, Milady. With a plot that delivers stolen diamonds, masked balls, purloined letters, and, of course, great bouts of swordplay, The Three Musketeers is eternally entertaining!

The Vicomte de Bragelonne

Alexandre Dumas

The dArtagnan Romances are a set of three novels by Alexandre Dumas telling the story of the musketeer dArtagnan from his humble beginnings in Gascony to his death as a marshal of France in the Siege of Maastricht in 1673. It is May 1660 and the fate of nations is at stake. Mazarin plots, Louis XIV is in love, and Raoul de Bragelonne, son of Athos, is intent on serving France and winning the heart of Louise de la Valliere. DArtagnan, meanwhile, is perplexed by a mysterious stranger, and soon he learns that his old comrades already have great projects in hand. Athos seeks the restoration of Charles II, while Aramis, with Porthos in tow, has a secret plan involving a masked prisoner and the fortification of the island of Belle-Ile. DArtagnan finds a thread leading him to the French court, the banks of the Tyne, the beaches of Holland, and the dunes of Brittany. The Vicomte de Bragelonne: Ten Years Later is the 3rd and largest continuation of the Musketeer saga, following The Three Musketeers and Twenty Years After.

The Wolf-Leader

Alexandre Dumas

During the absolutism in France, the young clog-maker Thibaudt has a deep desire to belong to the aristocracy. One day he saves the life of a wolf, who fled from the baron Jean de Vez and his hunting party. A while later Thibaudt imagine his amazement: the wolf transformed himself into a human and offers him a pact. The wolf promises to grant Thibaults wishes in exchange for a hair on his head. As Thibault wishes harm upon more and more people, the hairs on his head become red and wiry. Thibaults life only gets worse, however; he is able to take revenge on his enemies, but the villagers suspect him to be a werewolf. The Wolf-Leader, a novel by Alexandre Dumas, was originally published in 1857. In the lengthy but entertaining introduction, Dumas explains that the novel is based on folktales he grew up hearing in his hometown of Villers-Cotterts. This particular tale was told to him by a gamekeeper who often took him hunting as a young man. The novel contains elements of horror, fantasy, and science fiction, yet it times is also quite comic.

Twenty Years After

Alexandre Dumas

Anyone old enough to have friends they havent seen for many years knows how difficult it can be to get everyone together again. And when you do, its never quite the same. Thats the theme of Twenty Years After (1845), Alexandre Dumass sequel to The Three Musketeers that is a supreme creation of suspense and heroic adventure. This story follows events in France during La Fronde, during the childhood reign of Louis XIV, and in England near the end of the English Civil War, leading up to the victory of Oliver Cromwell and the execution of King Charles I. Here the much beloved DArtaganan, Athos, Porthos and Aramis reunite to fight the forces of evil. In the original novel they defeated Milady, a formidable foe; now they need to face her vengeful son Mordaunt, as well as countering the machinations of the sinister Cardinal Mazarin. Translated into many languages and adapted for cinema and television, The Musketeer novels have helped to make Dumas arguably the most successful exporter of French culture to the wider world.