The Three Musketeers

Front Cover
Ladybird Books, 1981 - Fiction - 51 pages

First serialized between March and July of 1844, Alexandre Dumas's "The Three Musketeers" is one of the author's most famous works, the opening installment in the "d'Artagnan Romances." A timeless tale of adventure, romance, intrigue, and revenge, it is the captivating story of d'Artagnan, a young man of Gascony, who is determined to become a Musketeer of the Royal Guard. Through his wit and skill with a sword, he befriends the other Musketeers, Athos, Porthos, and Aramis. Together they must foil the nefarious plotting of Cardinal Richelieu against the King and Queen, despite his appearance as an ally. The Musketeers must also overcome the villainous machinations of Milady de Winter, whose lethal criminality threatens those in power and the love of d'Artagnan for Constance Bonacieux. Dumas's classic story has enthralled readers with its fast-paced action, endearing characters, and romantic ideals ever since its original publication. The camaraderie of the Musketeers has been forever immortalized by their famous motto "one for all, all for one." This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper.


About the author (1981)

After an idle youth, Alexandre Dumas went to Paris and spent some years writing. A volume of short stories and some farces were his only productions until 1927, when his play Henri III (1829) became a success and made him famous. It was as a storyteller rather than a playwright, however, that Dumas gained enduring success. Perhaps the most broadly popular of French romantic novelists, Dumas published some 1,200 volumes during his lifetime. These were not all written by him, however, but were the works of a body of collaborators known as "Dumas & Co." Some of his best works were plagiarized. For example, The Three Musketeers (1844) was taken from the Memoirs of Artagnan by an eighteenth-century writer, and The Count of Monte Cristo (1845) from Penchet's A Diamond and a Vengeance. At the end of his life, drained of money and sapped by his work, Dumas left Paris and went to live at his son's villa, where he remained until his death.

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