Is "The Count of Monte Cristo" the first legal thriller?

Alexander Dumas’ “The Count of Monte Cristo” is a book that few of us have bothered to re-read since high school(that is, if we ever actually read the whole book then). Yet, its a book that lovers of legal thrillers should read, because this swashbuckling tale is in many ways the first legal thriller. After all, two key plot points involve legal issues. The first is the false imprisonment of the Edmond Dantès, who becomes the Count. The second relates to the law of financing.

The Count gets his revenge through letters of credit, a device used in the 17th-19th centuries in the days before credit cards and bank accounts. Letters of credit allowed people to travel from county to country without carry huge sums of cash or jewelry or gold. Today, letters of credit are used in international trade (many imports and exports involve letters of credit), and law students throughout the country slog through the course on Chapter 5 of the Uniform Commercial Code on letters of credit.

But you don’t have to have gone to law school to understand or enjoy “The Count of Monte Cristo.” It’s a page-turning book that worth rereading (or reading the first time all the way through).

The Count of Monte Cristo