Introduction

A new and vibrant translation of Alexandre Dumas’s renowned The Three Musketeers, following the adventures of the valiant d’Artagnan and his three loyal comrades.

In March of 1844, the Parisian paper The Century began publishing installments of a new tale by France’s favorite author, Alexandre Dumas. Week after week readers thrilled to the adventures of the brave and clever d’Artagnan and his loyal comrades. Collected for book publication at the end of that year, and quickly translated into a dozen languages, The Three Musketeers was a worldwide sensation?nowhere more so than in the United States. Citizens of the brash new republic recognized kindred spirits in the bold musketeers, and the book and its sequels found an eager American readership.

The novel's fast-moving story is set in the royal court of Louis XIII, where the swaggering King’s Musketeers square off against their rivals: the crimson-clad Guards of the dreaded Cardinal Richelieu. The Red Duke rules France with an iron hand in the name of King Louis?and of Queen Anne, who dares a secret love affair with France’s enemy, England’s Duke of Buckingham. Into this royal intrigue leaps the brash d’Artagnan, a young swordsman from the provinces determined to find fame and fortune in Paris. Bold and clever, in no time the youth finds himself up to his Gascon neck in adventure, while earning the enduring friendship of the greatest comrades in literature, the Three Musketeers: noble Athos, sly Aramis, and the giant, good-hearted Porthos.

Now from Lawrence Ellsworth, acclaimed translator of The Red Sphinx, comes a new rendition of The Three Musketeers for a new century, one that captures anew the excitement, humor, and spirit of Alexandre Dumas’s greatest novel of historical adventure. Whether you’re meeting the musketeers for the first time or discovering them all over again, it’s all for one, one for all, in this timeless tale of honor and glory, the flash of dark eyes, and the clash of bright steel.

“The classic French epic in a new translation by Lawrence Ellsworth brings freshness to the story of d'Artagnan and his pals.” - The New York Times Book Review

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Excerpt

Introduction

From: The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
Translated by Lawrence Ellsworth

The Three Musketeers is one of the best-loved novels of the nineteenth century, still read and admired over a century and a half since its first publication. It’s been a pleasure and a privilege to prepare a new, present-day English translation of this novel, not least because it’s a work that has always meant a lot to me personally. Writing an introduction to Dumas’s great classic is more than a little intimidating for this editor, but it’s worthwhile to consider where this book comes from, and why it’s still relevant and still resonates with readers in the twenty-first century. ... view entire excerpt...

Discussion Questions

1. The Three Musketeers is one of the hallmarks of adventure literature. Have you read it before? If so, when did you first read it? And how does re-reading/re-visiting it a second time change your appreciation of it?

2. If you have not yet read it before, what were your expectations going in to it?

3. Translation plays such a key role in bringing to life literature in other languages. If you had read previous translations of The Three Musketeers before, how does this one compare? How do you think a translator's work affects a novel?

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»	Publisher's Book Info
»	NYT Review

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