Dumas, Alexandre. D'Artagnan Romances. #bk. 2

Read by John Lee

A new translation of Dumas's rousing sequel to The Three Musketeers, picking up twenty years after the conclusion of that classic novel and continuing the adventures of the valiant d'Artagnan and his three loyal friends The Three Musketeers, Alexandre Dumas's most famous and enduring novel, completed its serial publication in the summer of 1844, and by the time of its book publication at the end of that year, readers were already demanding a sequel. They got it starting in January 1845, when the first chapters of Twenty Years After began to appear―but it wasn't quite what they were expecting. When Twenty Years After opens it is 1648: the Red Sphinx, Cardinal Richelieu, is dead, France is ruled by a regency in the grip of civil war, and across the English Channel the monarchy of King Charles I hangs by a thread. As d'Artagnan will find, these are problems that can't be solved with a sword thrust. In Twenty Years After, the musketeers confront maturity and face its greatest challenge: sometimes, you fail. It's in how the four comrades respond to failure, and rise above it, that we begin to see the true characters of Dumas's great heroes. A true literary achievement, Twenty Years After is long overdue for a modern reassessment―and a new translation. As an added inducement, Lawrence Ellsworth has discovered a "lost" chapter that was overlooked in the novel's original publication, and is included in none of the available English translations to date―until now. Blackstone Publishing presentsIntroductionsub- A...1 - Richelieu's Ghost2 - A Night PatrolII - A Night PatrolIII - Two Old EnemiesIV - Anne of Austria at Age Forty-SixV - Gascon and ItalianVI - D'Artagnan at Age FortyVII - In Which d'Artagnan Is Confounded, but Receives Aid from a Unexpected QuarterVIII - The Differing Effects of a Half-Pistole When Bestowed upon a Beadle and a ChoirboyIX - In Which d"Artagnan, Seeking aramis, Finds Him on Planchet's CrupperX - The Abbe d'HerblayXI - Pas de DeuxXII - Monsieur Porthos du Vallon de Bracieux de PierrefondsXIII - In Which d'Artagnan Finds Porthos, and Learns That Money Can't Buy HappinessXIV - In Which We Find That, If Porthos Was Unhappy with His Situation, Mousqueton Was NotXV - Angelic YouthXVI - The Chateau de BragelonneXVII - The Diplomacy of AthosXVIII - Monsieur de BeaufortXIX - How the Duc de Baeaufort Amused Himself in the Dungeon of VincennesXX - Grimaud Assumes His PostXXI - What Was Hidden in the Pies of Pere Marteau's SuccessorXXII - An adventure of Marie MichonXXIII - The Abbe ScarronXXIV - Saint-DenisXXV - One of the Duc de Beaufort's Forty Methods of EscapeXXVI - A Timely Arrival and a Hasty DepartureXXVII - The KingXXVII - The King's Highway XXVIII - EncounterXXIX - Good Councilor BrousselXXX - Four Old Friends Prepare for a CouncilXXXI - The Place RoyaleXXXII - The Oise FerryXXXIII - SkirmishXXXIV - The MonkXXXV - The AbsolutionXXXVI - Grimaud SpeaksXXXVII - The Eve of BattleXXXVIII - A Dinner as of OldXXXIX - The Letter from Charles IXL - The Letter from CromwellXLI - Mazarin and Queen HenrietteXLII - How Those in Need Sometimes Mistake Blind Luck for God's WillXLIII - The Uncle and the NephewXLIV - PaternityXLV - Once More the Queen Asks for AidXLVI - In Which It Is Shown That the First Impulse Is Always the Right OneThis concludes... Good fun!" "Dumas never stints the action, witty dialogue, and surprising plot developments. As gradually grows clear, his overriding theme is loyalty-to friends, family and party but, above all, to living by a principled code of honor in a debased and chaotic world. If you only know The Three Musketeers, you owe yourself the pleasure of spending some happy evenings with Twenty Years After. Athos, Porthos, Aramis, and D'Artagnan may be older and their hair starting to gray, but they've lost none of their romance and grandeur."

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