The Count of Monte Cristo

Nominated as one of America's best-loved novels by PBS's The Great American Read. A popular bestseller since its publication in 1844, The Count of Monte Cristo is one of the great page-turning thrillers of all time. Set against the tumultuous years of the post-Napoleonic era, Alexandre Dumas's grand historical romance recounts the swashbuckling adventures of Edmond Dant¨s, a dashing young sailor falsely accused of treason. The story of his long imprisonment, dramatic escape, and carefully wrought revenge offers up a vision of France that has become immortal. As Robert Louis Stevenson declared, "I do not believe there is another volume extant where you can breathe the same unmingled atmosphere of romance." Review. "Dumas was . . . a summit of art. Nobody ever could, or did, or will improve upon Dumas's romances and plays."--George Bernard Shaw From the Publisher. Set against the turbulent years of the Napoleonic era, Alexandre Dumas's thrilling adventure story is one of the most widely read romantic novels of all time. In it the dashing young hero, Edmond Dant¨s, is betrayed by his enemies and thrown into a secret dungeon in the Chateau d'If -- doomed to spend his life in a dank prison cell. The story of his long, intolerable years in captivity, his miraculous escape, and his carefully wrought revenge creates a dramatic tale of mystery and intrigue and paints a vision of France -- a dazzling, dueling, exuberant France -- that has become immortal. "Dumas was... a summit of art. Nobody ever could, or did, or will improve upon Dumas's romances and plays." -- George Bernard Shaw