Alexandre Dumas

Vom höchsten Glück in den tiefsten Abgrund

Young d'Artagnan arrives in Paris to join King's Louis XIII's elite guards, but almost immediately finds he is duelling with some of the very men he has come to swear allegiance to - Porthos, Athos and Aramis, inseparable friends.

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. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

Twenty Years After (1845), the sequel to The Three Musketeers, is a supreme creation of suspense and heroic adventure. Two decades have passed since the musketeers triumphed over Cardinal Richelieu and Milady. Time has weakened their resolve, and dispersed their loyalties. But treasons and strategems still cry out for justice: civil war endangers the throne of France, while in England Cromwell threatens to send Charles I to the scaffold. Dumas brings his immortal quartet out of retirement to cross swords with time, the malevolence of men, and the forces of history. But their greatest test is a titanic struggle with the son of Milady, who wears the face of Evil. In his Introduction to this edition David Coward sets both the author and his exciting tale in their historical and cultural contexts. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

`Dear sister!' said Charles IX, `there is blood on your sleeve!' `And what consequence is that, Sire,' said Marguerite, `if I have a smile upon my lips?' Saint Bartholomew's Day 1572. Paris is awash with the blood of Huguenots slaughtered by order of Charles IX. Or perhaps of Catherine de Medicis, one of history's great monsters? Or the ambitious Duke de Guise? Or the Duke d'Anjou, soon to be the reluctant King of Poland? The answer will be found in the secret passageways of the Louvre and the torture chamber of the fortress of Vincennes. It takes an iron nerve and a cool head to survive. Young Henry of Navarre has both in abundance, but he has more: he has his Queen, the beautiful, cultured Margot. Staking all on love and losing, she remains defiant in defeat. La Reine Margot (1845) is a novel of suspense and drama which recreates the violent world of intrigue, murder and duplicity of the French Renaissance. Dumas fills his canvas with a gallery of unforgettable characters, unremitting action and the engaging generosity of spirit which has made him one of the world's greatest and best-loved story-tellers. This revised edition of the classic translation of 1846 is richly annotated. An introduction sets Dumas and his work in their literary, historical and cultural context. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

Swashbuckling adventure ensues in Georges, a riveting novel from the same author that wrote The Three Musketeers. In Georges,Alexandre Dumas pulls out all the stops for this story of passion, identity, and racism. A sensitive boy of mixed race, Georges Munier moves within the highest ranks of social circles in France and England before returning to the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius. There he falls in love with Sara. The only problem is: she’s engaged to the son of the powerful plantation owner, Monsier de Malmédie. What follows is a story of a slave rebellion, duels, and battles at sea.