10 Best Books by Alexander Dumas

Before becoming one of France’s most popular authors, Alexander Dumas started out as a playwright. The first play that he wrote was performed when he was only 27 years old. His best-known book is The Three Musketeers but he has written more books that are both popular and not so popular.

RELATED READ: Facts About Alexandre Dumas

After the success of The Count of Monte Cristo, Dumas dumped his entire fortune into his own Chateau de Monte Cristo. He was forced to flee to Belgium to escape his creditors.

Throughout his lifetime, he wrote 100,000 pages and 200 books. He specialized in Romanticism serving as Victor Hugo’s chief rival. Here we will look at the 10 best books written by Alexander Dumas.

10 Best Books by Alexander Dumas

1. Les Trois Mousquetaties  (The Three Musketeers)

Written in 1844, The Three Musketeers is mainly a historical and adventure novel. It was first serialized in the newspaper Le Siecle during the July Monarchy, four years before the French Revolution that installed the Second Republic. Dumas collaborated with ghostwriter Auguste Marquet.

In The Three Musketeers, Dumas presents the various injustices, abuses, and absurdities of the Ancient Regime. It was written at a time when the debate in France between the Republicans and Monarchists was still fierce.

The Three Musketeers follows the swashbuckling adventure o d’Artagnan after leaving home in Paris in his hopes of becoming a part of the Musketeers of the Guard. Although he was not able to become part of the elite corp right away, he became friends with three of the most formidable musketeers of that time– Athos, Portos, and Aramis.

He then becomes involved in affairs of state and court. The adventures if d’Artagnan continues in Twenty Years After and The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later.

2. Le Comte de Monte Cristo (The Count of Monte Cristo)

Another popular Alexandre Dumas novel is The Count of Monte Cristo.  Its popularity has spurned a 2002 movie starring Jim Caviezel, Guy Pearce, Richard Harris, and others.

It was written during the Bourbon Restoration during the reign of Louis-Philippine of France. The historical setting is an important element of the book as it revolves around the theme of hope, justice, vengeance, mercy, and forgiveness. It is considered a literary classic and has become a fixture of Western civilization literature.

The Count of Monte Cristo tells the story of Edmond Dantes, a 19-year old first mate of the Pharaon, who was falsely accused of treason. For this, he was arrested and imprisoned without trial in the Chateau d’if, a grim island fortress off Marseilles.

Through fellow prisoner, Abbe Faria, Edmond learns of a treasure that Faria has found. After the death of Faria, Dantes escapes and found the treasure. He then becomes the rich and powerful Count of Monte Cristo and redeems himself.

3. L’Homme au Masque de Fer (Man In The Iron Mask)

The Man in The Iron Mask is the final book in the novel of the celebrated foursome of D’Artagnan, Athos, Porthos, and Aramis. 

It has all the hallmarks of a thrilling adventure story– a glamorous and powerful kind, ambitious ministers, a cruel and despotic jailer, dark and sinister dungeons, and a mysterious prisoner. Readers will discover one of the most enduring mysteries in the reign of King Louis XIV. It pictures the life of state prisoners in 17th-century France.

The Man in The Iron Mask is actually the story of a real person Eustache Dauger, who spent over thirty years in prison never to be freed.

The book follows his journey through four prisons and across decades of time. It introduces readers to the people with whom he shared his imprisonment, the people responsible for charging him, and the people who decided his tragic fate.

4. Twenty Years After

Twenty Years After is the sequel to The Three Musketeers. The book is separated into three sections: Vicomte de Bragelonne, Louise de la Valliere, and The Man in the Iron Mask. First serialized in The d’Artagnan Romances. Set during the childhood reign of Louis XIV near the end of the English Civil War.

The 1989 film The Return of the Musketeers is loosely based on the book. In addition, the 1992 Russian musical film Musketeers Twenty Years After is a direct adaptation of the book. In 1967, BBC aired a 16-episode television adaptation of Twenty Years After entitled The Further Adventures of the Musketeers.

Twenty Years After takes place during the regency of Queen Anne of Austria. D’Artagnan has remained a lieutenant for twenty years already and is unlikely to progress despite his ambition and the debt the queen owes him. D’Artagnan is called by First Minister Cardinal Mazarin to active service as his escort.

He is then sent to Bastille to retrieve a prisoner, who turns out to be his former adversary, Comte de Rocherfort.

Toward the end of the book, D’Artagnan gets reunited with his former friends. However, a problem sets in after they he found out that they had different political allegiances.

5. Les Quarante-cing (The Forty Five Guardsmen)

Written between 1847 and 1848, “The Forty Five Guardsmen” is a historical novel penned by Alexandre Dumas in collaboration with Auguste Maquet. It is the concluding work of the Valois trilogy, set during the French Wars of Religion in 1585 and 1586.

The original manuscript was displayed during a 1902 event at Villers-Cotterets. Alexandre Dumas and his son held halves of it, yet it’s widely acknowledged that Maquet was the sole author, as Dumas was incapacitated by illness.

The novel unfolds thirteen years after the Saint Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, during the early years of Henry III’s reign as he seeks to quell the kingdom’s religious and political strife. The plot follows Diana de Merido’s pursuit of vengeance against the Duke of Anjou for his betrayal of Bussy d’Ambroise.

The title refers to the group of forty-five guards led by Jean Louis de Nogaret de La Valette, Duke of Epermon, tasked with safeguarding Henry III amid the turbulent War of the Three Henrys.

6. The Queens Necklace

Published in 1849 and 1850, The Queen’s Necklace first appeared in serialized form in La Presse. It is the second in a series of four novels focusing on the character of Cagliostro.

The Queen’s Necklace is loosely based on the Affair of the Diamond Necklace, an episode about fraud and royal scandal that made headlines at the court of Louis XVI in the 1780s.

The book has had several film adaptations, the latest was in 2001 entitled The Affairs of the Necklace, starring Hillary Swank. Although the movie’s plot follows the Affair of the Diamond Necklace, whose elements have been drawn from the novel by Alexandre Dumas.

The Queen’s Necklace dramatizes an incident that happened during the reign of King Louis XVI of France in the 1780s, involving Marie Antoinette. As the king’s wife, Marie Antoinette’s reputation had already been tarnished by gossip and scandal.

Her involvement in a crime involving a stolen necklace became one of the major turning points of public opinion against the monarchy, culminating in the French Revolution.

7. The Corsican Brothers

The Corsican Brothers, published in 1844, narrates  The Corsican Brothers is the story of two conjoined brothers who although separated at birth can still feel each other’s physical distress. It has been adapted several times on the stage and in film. 

When one of the brothers was killed, the other sets out for Paris to seek revenge for the murder of his brother. The Corsican Brothers is a tale of the undying love between brothers.

The Corsican Brothers,” published in 1844, narrates the bond of separated conjoined twins who share a unique empathic link. Adapted in theater and film, it follows one twin seeking vengeance in Paris after the other’s murder.

This tale highlights enduring fraternal love. The story begins in 1841 as the narrator visits Corsica, residing with widow Savilia de Franchi near Olmeto and Sollacaro. She’s mother to Louis and Lucien, once conjoined. Louis, a Paris-based lawyer, departs to mediate a feud between the Orlandi and Colona families.

8. La Reine Margot

Written in 1845, “La Reine Margot” is grounded in real historical figures and events, yet it’s important to acknowledge that some elements of the novel may deviate from historical accuracy.

This divergence is attributed to artistic liberties taken by Dumas and his potential biases against certain historical personalities, particularly Catherine. The original composition was in French, promptly followed by an English translation.

The narrative of “La Reine Margot” unfolds during the reign of King Charles IX of the Valois dynasty. The central figure is Marguerite de Valois, daughter of the late Henry II. In contrast, Catherine de Medici, Margot’s mother, assumes the role of the antagonist.

As an act of goodwill, Margot is betrothed to Henri de Bourbon, a prominent Huguenot and the King of Navarre. Concurrently, Catherine orchestrates a riot that culminates in the infamous St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre of 1572.

This violent event targets the wealthiest and most influential Huguenots, many of whom have gathered in Paris to accompany the Protestant prince during his wedding.

9. The Vicomte of Bragelonne : Ten Years Later

The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later is the third and last book of The d’Artagnan Romances following The Three Musketeers and Twenty Years After.

It was first published in serial form between 1847 to 1850. The book is set in the 1660s during the early reign of Louis XIV. In most translations of the novel, the 268 chapters are usually subdivided into three parts and even into 4 or 6 separate books. 

The story takes place during the time Louis XIV was well past the age where he should rule. However, the ailing Cardinal Mazarin refuses to relinquish the reins of power. Meanwhile, Charles II, a king without a country travels to Europe to seek assistance from his fellow monarchs.

By this time, Athos is now living at La F re with his son Raoul. Porthos is now a baron and Aramis is now the Bishop of Vannes.

10. The Black Tulip

The Black Tulip is a historical novel first published in 1850. The story takes place in 17th century Netherlands.

The novel was influenced by the myth of the existence of a black tulip. It is a novel about love, jealousy, and obsession. The story features a magnificent prize offered to the first man or woman who will produce a pure, black tulip. For years, Dutch growers worked to create a black tulip cultivar in real life.

The city of Haalam had set a prize of 10,000 Francs to whoever would be able to grow a black tulip. Aside from the prize, also at stake was fame, honor, and the prestige of etching their name in history by bearing the tulip’s recorded name.

The wealthy Cornelius Van Baerle liked the idea of growing tulips in the state but takes the challenge of growing the black tulip.

However, his neighbor Isaac Boxtel became envious and weary of Cornelius’ success. Van Baerle was suddenly arrested and meted life imprisonment. There he met Rosa Gryphus who helped him grow the flowers.

It is set during the lynching of the Dutch Grand Pensionary by Johan de Witt and his brother Cornelis. They were considered rebels against the Prince of Orange, William III. It takes place while the Netherlands is in the midst of tulip mania.