Alexandre Dumas
French
1802 – 1870
Alexandre Dumas (born Alexandre Davy de la Pailleterie; 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas père, was a French novelist and playwright.
His works have been translated into many languages and he is one of the most widely read French authors. Many of his historical novels of adventure were originally published as serials, including The Count of Monte Cristo, The Three Musketeers, Twenty Years After and The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later. He also wrote many plays and, since the early 20th century, many of his novels have been adapted into films. Prolific in several genres, Dumas began his career by writing plays, which were successfully produced from the first. He wrote numerous magazine articles and travel books; his published works totalled 100,000 pages. In the 1840s, Dumas founded the Théâtre Historique in Paris.
His father, General Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, né Davy de la Pailleterie, was born in the French colony of Saint-Domingue (present-day Haiti) to Alexandre Antoine Davy de la Pailleterie, a French nobleman, and Marie-Cessette Dumas, an African slave. At age 14, Thomas-Alexandre was taken by his father to France, where he was given his freedom, educated in a military academy, and entered the military for what became an illustrious career.
Alexandre acquired work with Louis-Philippe, Duke of Orléans, then as a writer, a career that led to his early success. Decades later, after the election of Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte in 1851, Dumas fell from favour and left France for Belgium, where he stayed for several years. He moved to Russia for a few years and then to Italy. In 1861, he founded and published the newspaper L'Indépendant, which supported Italian unification. He returned to Paris in 1864.
English playwright Watts Phillips, who knew Dumas in his later life, described him as "the most generous, large-hearted being in the world. He also was the most delightfully amusing and egotistical creature on the face of the earth. His tongue was like a windmill—once set in motion, you would never know when he would stop, especially if the theme was himself."
On LuvemBooks, we've reviewed The Count of Monte Cristo.
1
Books ReviewedAlexandre Dumas books in order
15 books; 1 reviewed on LuvemBooks. Dates and covers from Amazon.
1998Our review →
2001The Man in the Iron MaskAmazon ↗
2007Nutcracker and Mouse King and The Tale of the NutcrackerAmazon ↗
2009Twenty Years AfterAmazon ↗
2009The Vicomte de BragelonneAmazon ↗
2009La Reine MargotAmazon ↗
2016The Best ofAmazon ↗
2017The Red SphinxAmazon ↗
2020Blood RoyalAmazon ↗
2021Between Two KingsAmazon ↗
2022Court of DaggersAmazon ↗
2023Classic Starts®: The Three MusketeersAmazon ↗
2023Devil's DanceAmazon ↗
2024Shadow of the BastilleAmazon ↗
2026The GeneralAmazon ↗
Ask LuvemBooks about Alexandre Dumas
Alexandre Dumas was a French novelist and playwright whose adventure fiction has stayed in print for nearly two centuries — The Count of Monte Cristo, originally serialized from 1844 to 1846, follows Edmond Dantès from false imprisonment and is regarded as a classic of both French and world literature. We have reviewed 1 of their books so far, and The Count of Monte Cristo holds a reader rating of 4.7/5 from over 6,000 Amazon ratings, with Robin Buss's Penguin Classics translation offering the complete text to modern English readers.
- Where should I start?
- Start with The Count of Monte Cristo. It's the one Dumas book we've reviewed, it carries a reader rating of 4.7/5 from 6,391 Amazon ratings, and Robin Buss's Penguin Classics translation brings the complete text to modern English readers in a scholarly edition.
- What's their writing style?
- Dumas wrote serialized fiction — The Count of Monte Cristo appeared in installments from 1844 to 1846 — and their work sits firmly in the adventure tradition. The novel's story of Edmond Dantès, beginning with his false imprisonment, has endured as one of the most lasting adventure novels ever written.
- Books we've reviewed
- We've reviewed 1 book by Alexandre Dumas: The Count of Monte Cristo, the serialized 1844–1846 adventure novel following Edmond Dantès from false imprisonment, in Robin Buss's complete Penguin Classics translation. It holds a reader rating of 4.7/5 from 6,391 Amazon ratings.
- Why is The Count of Monte Cristo trending?
- The Count of Monte Cristo is currently trending because of an adaptation of the novel. Interest in screen adaptations often sends readers back to the source — and the book we've reviewed, in Robin Buss's Penguin Classics translation, is the complete serialized classic behind it.
- What genre do they write?
- Dumas wrote novels and plays, and the book we've reviewed — The Count of Monte Cristo — is categorized as Fiction. It's described as one of the most enduring adventure novels ever written, so adventure fiction is the heart of what we can speak to from our coverage.
- What should I read after The Count of Monte Cristo?
- The Count of Monte Cristo is the only Dumas book we've reviewed so far, so we can't yet point you to another reviewed title by them. Within the book itself, the complete Penguin Classics edition we reviewed is substantial enough to keep adventure readers busy for a while.
Who is Alexandre Dumas?
Where should I start?
What's their writing style?
Books we've reviewed
Why is The Count of Monte Cristo trending?
What genre do they write?
What should I read after The Count of Monte Cristo?
Who is Alexandre Dumas?
Alexandre Dumas, also known as Alexandre Dumas père, was a French novelist and playwright. Their notable works include the novel La dame aux camélias, and The Count of Monte Cristo — originally serialized from 1844 to 1846 — is regarded by Wikipedia as a classic of both French and world literature.
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