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Old 05-04-2007, 09:35 PM   #7
Liviu_5
Books and more books
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the essential Dumas

Outside of the 3 Musketeers and sequels, Dumas wrote 3 more series that are excellent with lots of interesting characters, action, romance, even a little bit of fantastic. I do not know the exact status of english translations, some of these books I found only partial translations (I've been reading Dumas for 30 years + in 3 languages).

the Religion Wars series:
Queen Margot (Margot, her husband to be future Henry IV, still a protestant on the eve of the protestant massacre of 1572, her lover La Mole another protestant, la Mole's rival and friend Coconas and various historical personages)
Dame de Monsoreau (Chicot the noble jester/adviser to Henry III one of my favourite Dumas characters, Bussy d'Amboise the quintesantial Dumas romantic hero, Diane the lady of the title the quintessential romantic heroine and their star crossed romance)
The Forty Five (immediate sequel to DM)
Should have been a 4th novel to complete the epic - but it was not written

The Revolution series:
Joseph Balsamo (Memoirs of a Physician sometimes) - Balsamo/Cagliostro the "sorcerer revolutionary", Gilbert - another one of my favourite Dumas characters and Andree
Queen's Necklace - Cagliostro, Andree, Olivier Charny, the Queen - the famous real necklace's affair through Dumas' eyes as a conspiracy of Cagliostro to speed the downfall of the monarchy
Ange Pitou - Gilbert back from America, Andree of course, Ange Pitou, Cagliostro's shadow, the revolution starts...
Comtesse de Charny - direct continuation of Ange Pitou, all about the revolution and pretty much closure for all characters - this one is probably the single best Dumas book in my opinion and my all time favourite

The Directory/Napoleonic series
White and the Blue: the most historical book of Dumas, still has some interesting characters and scenes
Jehu's Compagnons: Napoleon taking power, his aide Roland battling the royalists under Morgan - both extraordinary Dumas characters
Chevalier de Sainte-Hermine (Last Cavalier) - last Dumas novel serialized in the year of his death 1870, found unfinished and published recently in France, and this summer here, closes the previous 2 books and follows the title hero, younger brother of Morgan through his love-hate relationship (mirroring that of Dumas) with the emperor Napoleon. Story ends in the middle with only an outline for the other half, still a great read

As standalones, there are 3 that are notable: Robin Hood (the ultimate Robin in my opinion), Count of Monte-Cristo- enough said, Georges - this one is tricky, mirrors some of Dumas racial experience (let us not forget that Dumas paternal grandmother was a black slave from Haiti, and his father a famous revolutionary general considered a rival to Napoleon and marginalized for thsi, being half-black had a lot of prejudice to deal with, as did Dumas reffered many times as a "negro" writer by his detractors)
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