The courageous musketeers—Athos, D'Artagnan, Aramis, and Porthos—return to sword fighting in the final installment of the D'Artagnan Romances. When Aramis visits the Bastille, an infamous French prison, he meets a mysterious man who wears an iron mask and claims to be the King of France's secret twin brother. While France suffers under King Louis XIV's rule, Aramis initiates an elaborate plan to free the prisoner and overthrow the corrupt king with the masked man's help. Will the musketeers survive their most daring adventure yet, filled with nefarious politics, deceitful royals, and clashing loyalties? This is an unabridged English translation of French author Alexandre Dumas's swashbuckling historical novel, which was first published in serial form between 1847 and 1850.

A vivid, dramatic, and eye-opening historical narrative, The Man in the Iron Mask reveals the story behind the most enduring mystery of Louis XIV’s reign. The Man in the Iron Mask has all the hallmarks of a thrilling adventure story: a glamorous and all-powerful king, ambitious ministers, a cruel and despotic jailor, dark and sinister dungeons— and a secret prisoner. It is easy for forget that this story, made famous by Alexandre Dumas, is that of a real person, Eustache Danger, who spent more than thirty years in the prison system of Louis XIV’s France—never to be freed. This narrative brings to life the true story of this mysterious man and follows his journey through four prisons and across decades of time. It introduces the reader to those with whom he shared his imprisonment, those who had charge of him, and those who decided his tragic fate. The Man in the Iron Mask reveals one of the most enduring mysteries of Louis XIV’s reign; but it is, above all, a human story. Using contemporary documents, this book shows what life was really like for state prisoners in seventeenth-century France—and offers tantalising insight into why this mysterious man was arrested and why, several years later, his story would become one of France’s most intriguing legends that still sparks debate and controversy today.

One of France's best-selling writers at the time of the novel's composition, Dumas here combines what he considered to be life's essentials - `l'action et l'amour'. This historical romance is the climax of his epic of chivalry and valour that began with The Three Musketeers, and it is here that Athos, Porthos, Aramis, and their friend d'Artagnan, once invincible, meet their destinies. This edition provides background information and notes crucial to an understanding of the legend and the novel's setting. - ;One of France's best-selling writers at the time of the novel's composition, Dumas here combines what he considered to be life's essentials - `l'action et l'amour'. This historical romance is the climax of his epic of chivalry and valour that began with The Three Musketeers, and it is here that Athos, Porthos, Aramis, and their friend d'Artagnan, once invincible, meet their destinies. This edition provides background information and notes crucial to an understanding of the legend and the novel's setting. -

A noble scholar visiting Mulmaster gets more than enough material for his research when he becomes entrapped in the city's political games The city of Mulmaster, nicknamed the City of Danger, is run down and teeming with corruption and crime. Unfortunately, it is also the next stop on Volothamp Geddarm's—minor wizard and esteemed traveling scholar—research trip for his upcoming Guide to the Monsoon. The deadly city may become Volo’s final resting place when a rescue mission embroils Volo in a sinister plot that threatens the tenuous political stability of all Faerûn. Volo’s calling may be to stand as an impartial scholar—but with danger and evil around every corner, he must go beyond his usual duties to protect himself, his friends, and the realms.

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR BIOGRAPHY • ONE OF ESQUIRE’S BEST BIOGRAPHIES OF ALL TIME General Alex Dumas is a man almost unknown today, yet his story is strikingly familiar—because his son, the novelist Alexandre Dumas, used his larger-than-life feats as inspiration for such classics as The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers. But, hidden behind General Dumas's swashbuckling adventures was an even more incredible secret: he was the son of a black slave—who rose higher in the white world than any man of his race would before our own time. Born in Saint-Domingue (now Haiti), Alex Dumas made his way to Paris, where he rose to command armies at the height of the Revolution—until he met an implacable enemy he could not defeat. The Black Count is simultaneously a riveting adventure story, a lushly textured evocation of 18th-century France, and a window into the modern world’s first multi-racial society. TIME magazine called The Black Count "one of those quintessentially human stories of strength and courage that sheds light on the historical moment that made it possible." But it is also a heartbreaking story of the enduring bonds of love between a father and son.

Dispatched by the king to retrieve his head–strong errant daughter, Lucas Garcia thought this was just another day at the office. That's before he meets Princess Claudine Verbault, who's adamant that returning to the kingdom that banished her as a child is never going to happen. Hidden from the spotlight, the now independent Claudine has learnt the art of being the not–so–perfect princess. But Lucas does not look like the kind of man to accept insubordination! If only she could bargain with this frustratingly immovable man...or distract him from his duty...

Published to coincide with the 300th anniversary of the death of the prisoner at the Bastille, this account of the mystery of "the man behind the iron mask" presents all the known facts of the prisoner's existence chronologically as they have been discovered.