Count of Monte Cristo (Dumas)

The Count of Monte Cristo 
Alexander Dumas, 1844
400-600 pp. (varies by publisher)


Summary 
Marseille, France, 1815. It is Edmond Dantes' wedding day. But his enemies have other plans, and Edmond is arrested and sent to the terrible island prison of Chateau d'If. For fourteen long years he waits for the right moment to escape. And now Edmond is a rich man, with many disguises, and a new name. The count of Monte Cristo begins his revenge. (From Bantam Books edition.)

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, Dumas’s grand historical romance recounts the swashbuckling adventures of Edmond Dantès, 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." (From the Modern Library Classics edition.)