‘The Man in the Iron Mask’ is the final volume of the d’Artagnan Romances book series, which began with Alexandre Dumas’ epic tale of love, loyalty and revenge, ‘The Three Musketeers’ and its sequel, ‘Twenty Years After.’ ‘The Man in the Iron Mask’ is excerpted from the much larger volume, Dumas’ sweeping novel ‘The Vicomte de Bragelonne.’
In this last book of the series, former Musketeer Aramis – now a Bishop – discovers that the King of France has imprisoned his twin brother Philippe in the Bastille, though Philippe has committed no crime. Aramis hatches a plot to free Philippe and install him as King but when this plan goes awry, Aramis finds himself a wanted man, along with his old friend Porthos, who flee Paris to escape the King’s wrath. When d’Artagnan, now Captain of the King’s Guard, is sent to arrest his old friends, a plot is set in motion that will finally end in betrayal, triumph and death.
Filled with thrills, intrigue, sword fights and political machinations, ‘The Man in the Iron Mask’ is the epic conclusion to the d’Artagnan Romance novels and it is presented here in its original and unabridged format.
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Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870) was a prolific author and dramatist who became one of the most successful and widely-read writers of the Romantic period.The mixed-race son of an army general, young Dumas and his family fell on hard times after his father passed away. Dumas eventually moved to Paris to pursue a career in law but quickly fell into a life in the theatre, eventually writing a number of successful plays before turning to historical novels. In 1844, he produced what would become his best known work: Les Trois Mousquetaires (The Three Musketeers), a thrilling romance about four swashbuckling heroes in the age of Cardinal Richelieu. He quickly followed it up with Vingt ans après (Twenty Years After) in 1845 and – almost simultaneously – wrote his other smash hit Le Comte de Monte Cristo (The Count of Monte Cristo), published that same year.As he became more successful, his spending increased to the point where he had to write furiously just to keep his creditors at bay, but his later books, including Dix ans plus tard ou le Vicomte de Bragelonne (Ten Years Later; or, The Vicomte de Bragelonne); and La Tulipe noire (The Black Tulip) were also highly successful. Dumas is often referred to as ‘Père’ to distinguish him from his son, Alexandre Dumas fils, also a prolific and successful writer. Dumas died in 1870 of natural causes and was buried at his birthplace in Villers-Cotterêts but, in 2002 – to celebrate the bicentenary of his birth – Dumas body was disinterred and moved to the Panthéon in Paris, where many of France’s greatest luminaries are buried.Dumas’ books have been adapted into numerous stage, screen and television productions and his books remain wildly successful to this day.