The Three Musketeers

The Three Musketeers is a historical adventure novel by Alexandre Dumas, first published in serial form in 1844. It is the opening volume of the d'Artagnan Romances.

In 1625, the young and hot-tempered d'Artagnan leaves Gascony for Paris, determined to join King Louis XIII's Musketeers. Within hours, he separately offends Athos, Porthos, and Aramis and agrees to duel each of them. When Cardinal Richelieu's guards interrupt, the four men fight side by side and an unlikely friendship begins.

D'Artagnan is soon drawn into a dangerous web of court politics involving Queen Anne, the Duke of Buckingham, and the calculating Cardinal Richelieu. Secret journeys, stolen diamonds, ambushes, and duels carry the friends across France and England, while the brilliant and ruthless Milady de Winter proves a formidable enemy.

Although its title names three musketeers, the novel's heart belongs to all four companions. Their famous bond is repeatedly tested by loyalty, ambition, love, honor, and political power.

Fast-moving, witty, and packed with reversals, The Three Musketeers helped define the swashbuckling adventure novel. Beneath the sword fights and daring escapes, Dumas offers memorable characters whose flaws make their courage and friendship more compelling.

This edition uses the English translation by William Robson.