Twenty Years After (1845) resumes the adventures of Alexandre Dumas' fabulous four begun in The Three Musketeers. “The inseparables”—Athos, Porthos, Aramis, and the irrepressible Gascon, d'Artagnan—are once again called upon to save France from itself. This time, the paragons of honor, chivalry, and justice find themselves embroiled not only in court intrigue and royal affairs (including the Queen's illicit liaison with her first minister, Cardinal Mazarin), but also popular revolution. Set during the minority of King Louis XIV, the English Revolution is about to reach its climax in the execution of Charles I and the revolt against the French crown known as the first Fronde is coming to a head. If the politics are more complex, the personalities are as well. Twenty years have wrought their changes on the impetuous young musketeers. They are older, grayer, and wiser, and each has more to lose.
