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...