Biographical noteAlexandre Dumas was born in 1802 at Villers-Cotterets in France. He received very little education but when he entered the household of the future king, Louis-Philippe, he began to read voraciously and then to write. He is best remembered for his historical novels, The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers. Dumas died in 1870.Robin Buss was a writer and translator who worked for the Independent on Sunday and as television critic for The Times Educational Supplement. He published critical studies of works by Vigny and Cocteau, and three books on European cinema, The French Through Their Films (1988), Italian Films (1989) and French Film Noir (1994). He also translated a number of volumes for Penguin Classics. He died in 2006. Main descriptionA beautiful new clothbound edition of Alexandre Dumas' classic novel of wrongful imprisonment, adventure and revenge. Thrown in prison for a crime he has not committed, Edmond Dantes is confined to the grim fortress of the Château d'If. There he learns of a great hoard of treasure hidden on the Isle of Monte Cristo and becomes determined not only to escape but to unearth the treasure and use it to plot the destruction of the three men responsible for his incarceration. A huge popular success when it was first serialized in the 1840s, Dumas was inspired by a real-life case of wrongful imprisonment when writing his epic tale of suffering and retribution.
Young D'Artagnan arrives in Paris to join the King's elite guards, but almost immediately finds he is duelling with some of the very men he has come to swear allegiance to - Porthos, Athos and Aramis, inseparable friends: the Three Musketeers. Soon part of their close band, D'Artagnan's loyalty to his new allies puts him in the deadly path of Cardinal Richlieu's machinations. And when the young hero falls in love with the beautiful but inaccessible Constance, he finds himself in a world of murder, conspiracy and lies, with only the Musketeers to depend on. A stirring nineteenth-century tale of friendship and adventure, The Three Musketeers continues to be one of the most influential and popular pieces of French literature. Richard Pevear's introduction investigates the controversy of Dumas' literary collaborators, and how important serialisation was to the book's success. This edition also includes notes on the text.
It is 1625 and France is under threat. D''Artagnan, a young nobleman, sets off to Paris to seek his fortune as a member of the King''s Guard and befriends three musketeers - the mysterious Athos, ambitious and romantic Aramis, and bumbling Porthos. Together the friends must use all their guile and ingenuity to outwit the dastardly schemes of Cardinal Richelieu and the glamorous spy, Milady. As fresh and entertaining today as when it was first written, Alexandre Dumas''s The Three Musketeers is a gripping adventure story of daring sword fights, romances, espionage and murder. This sensitively abridged Macmillan Collector''s Library edition of The Three Musketeers features an afterword by playwright, screenwriter and actor, Peter Harness. Designed to appeal to the booklover, the Macmillan Collector''s Library is a series of beautiful gift editions of much loved classic titles. Macmillan Collector''s Library are books to love and treasure.
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''I''ve worn that mask so long I don''t feel safe without it.'' The Man in the Iron Mask sees D''Artagnan, Athos, Porthos and Aramis return to meet their destinies in their final adventure. D''Artagnan still remains in the service of King Louis XIV while Aramis is a priest at the Bastille prison. Upon listening to a confession from an iron-masked prisoner who tells him that he is the twin brother of the King of France, Aramis is convinced that he will be rewarded if he can help him become king and he devises a plan for his escape, pitching himself against his old comrade D''Artagnan. Far darker than Dumas'' previous novels, The Man in the Iron Mask is a fast-paced and compelling historical romance of honour and loyalty.
As well as being the author of The Three Musketeers, Alexandre Dumas was also an enthusiastic gourmand and expert cook. His Grand Dictionnaire de Cuisine, published in 1873, is an encyclopaedic collection of ingredients, recipes and anecdotes, from Absinthe to Zest via cake, frogs' legs, oysters, Roquefort and vanilla.
Included here are recipes for bamboo pickle and strawberry omelette, advice on cooking all manner of beast from bear to kangaroo - as well as delightful digressions into how a fig started a war and whether truffles really increase ardour - brought together in a witty and gloriously eccentric culinary compendium.
Throughout the history of civilization, food has been more than simple necessity. In countless cultures, it has been livelihood, status symbol, entertainment - and passion. In the GREAT FOOD series, Penguin brings you the finest food writing from the last 400 years, and opens the door to the wonders of every kitchen.
The Baron des Canolles is a man torn apart by the civil war that dominates mid-seventeenth century France. For while the naïve Gascon soldier cares little for the politics behind the battles, he is torn apart by a deep passion for two powerful women on opposing sides of the war: Nanon de Lartigues, a keen supporter of the Queen Regent Anne of Austria, and the Victomtesse de Cambes, who supports the rebellious forces of the Princess de Condé. Set around Bordeaux during the first turbulent years of the reign of Louis XIV, The Women's War sees two women taking central stage in a battle for all France. Humorous, dramatic and romantic, it offers a compelling exploration of political intrigue, the power of redemption, the force of love and the futility of war.
Written at the height of the 1848 revolutions, Alexandre Dumas' One Thousand and One Ghosts is a macabre collection of supernatural tales, told with unrelenting detail and almost unbearable suspense.
Traduction du roman d'Alexandre Dumas Le Chevalier de la Maison Rouge, histoire d'un chevalier déterminé à sauver Marie-Antoinette de son tourment en pleine Révolution.
