The Three Musketeers

What It's About

A young Gascon named d'Artagnan travels to Paris to join the King's Musketeers, the elite guard of King Louis XIII. Along the way he crosses paths with three inseparable musketeers — Athos, Porthos, and Aramis — and the four are quickly drawn into a web of court intrigue involving the scheming Cardinal Richelieu, the Queen, and the enigmatic, dangerous Milady de Winter.

Key Concepts

Honor, loyalty, and friendship sit at the heart of the novel, embodied in the musketeers' motto of "all for one, and one for all." The story also explores political intrigue and the tension between personal allegiance and duty to the crown in 17th-century France.

About the Author

Alexandre Dumas (1802–1870) was a French novelist and playwright, and one of the most widely read authors in the world. The grandson of an enslaved woman from Saint-Domingue (present-day Haiti) and a French nobleman, he rose from modest beginnings to become one of the most prolific and popular writers of 19th-century France.

About This Edition

This is a 1853 translation by William Robson.