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Les crimes célèbres #5
Karl-Ludwig Sand
Alexandre Dumas, père (French for "father", akin to Senior in English), born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie (1802-1870) was a French writer, best known for his numerous historical novels of high adventure which have made him one of the most widely read French authors in the world. Many of his novels, including The Count of Monte Cristo (1845), The Three Musketeers (1844), and The Man in the Iron Mask (1848) were serialized, and he also wrote plays and magazine articles and was a prolific correspondent. Though best known now as a novelist, He earned his first fame as a dramatist. His Henri III et sa Cour (1829) was the first of the great Romantic historical dramas produced on the Paris stage, preceding Victor Hugo's more famous Hernani (1830). He was also a wellknown travel writer, writing such books as From Paris to Cadiz (1847), and Travel In Russia (1860). His other works include Twenty Years After (1845), The Two Dianas (1846), Queen Margot (1845), The Black Tulip (1850), The Wolf-Leader (1857), and The Knight of Sainte-Hermine (1869).
- GenresHistoricalHistoryFrance
68 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1839
About the author
Alexandre Dumas
5,845 books12.7k followersThis note regards Alexandre Dumas, père, the father of Alexandre Dumas, fils (son). For the son, see Alexandre Dumas fils.
Alexandre Dumas père, born Alexandre Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie, was a towering figure of 19th-century French literature whose historical novels and adventure tales earned global renown. Best known for The Three Musketeers, The Count of Monte Cristo, and other swashbuckling epics, Dumas crafted stories filled with daring heroes, dramatic twists, and vivid historical backdrops. His works, often serialized and immensely popular with the public, helped shape the modern adventure genre and remain enduring staples of world literature.
Dumas was the son of Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, a celebrated general in Revolutionary France and the highest-ranking man of African descent in a European army at the time. His father’s early death left the family in poverty, but Dumas’s upbringing was nonetheless marked by strong personal ambition and a deep admiration for his father’s achievements. He moved to Paris as a young man and began his literary career writing for the theatre, quickly rising to prominence in the Romantic movement with successful plays like Henri III et sa cour and Antony.
In the 1840s, Dumas turned increasingly toward prose fiction, particularly serialized novels, which reached vast audiences through French newspapers. His collaboration with Auguste Maquet, a skilled plotter and historian, proved fruitful. While Maquet drafted outlines and conducted research, Dumas infused the narratives with flair, dialogue, and color. The result was a string of literary triumphs, including The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo, both published in 1844. These novels exemplified Dumas’s flair for suspenseful pacing, memorable characters, and grand themes of justice, loyalty, and revenge.
The D’Artagnan Romances—The Three Musketeers, Twenty Years After, and The Vicomte of Bragelonne—cemented his fame. They follow the adventures of the titular Gascon hero and his comrades Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, blending historical fact and fiction into richly imagined narratives. The Count of Monte Cristo offered a darker, more introspective tale of betrayal and retribution, with intricate plotting and a deeply philosophical core.
Dumas was also active in journalism and theater. He founded the Théâtre Historique in Paris, which staged dramatizations of his own novels. A prolific and energetic writer, he is estimated to have written or co-written over 100,000 pages of fiction, plays, memoirs, travel books, and essays. He also had a strong interest in food and published a massive culinary encyclopedia, Le Grand Dictionnaire de cuisine, filled with recipes, anecdotes, and reflections on gastronomy.
Despite his enormous success, Dumas was frequently plagued by financial troubles. He led a lavish lifestyle, building the ornate Château de Monte-Cristo near Paris, employing large staffs, and supporting many friends and relatives. His generosity and appetite for life often outpaced his income, leading to mounting debts. Still, his creative drive rarely waned.
Dumas’s mixed-race background was a source of both pride and tension in his life. He was outspoken about his heritage and used his platform to address race and injustice. In his novel Georges, he explored issues of colonialism and identity through a Creole protagonist. Though he encountered racism, he refused to be silenced, famously replying to a racial insult by pointing to his ancestry and achievements with dignity and wit.
Later in life, Dumas continued writing and traveling, spending time in Belgium, Italy, and Russia. He supported nationalist causes, particularly Italian unification, and even founded a newspaper to advocate for Giuseppe Garibaldi. Though his popularity waned somewhat in his final years, his literary legacy grew steadily. He wrote in a style that was accessible, entertaining, and emotionally reso
Alexandre Dumas père, born Alexandre Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie, was a towering figure of 19th-century French literature whose historical novels and adventure tales earned global renown. Best known for The Three Musketeers, The Count of Monte Cristo, and other swashbuckling epics, Dumas crafted stories filled with daring heroes, dramatic twists, and vivid historical backdrops. His works, often serialized and immensely popular with the public, helped shape the modern adventure genre and remain enduring staples of world literature.
Dumas was the son of Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, a celebrated general in Revolutionary France and the highest-ranking man of African descent in a European army at the time. His father’s early death left the family in poverty, but Dumas’s upbringing was nonetheless marked by strong personal ambition and a deep admiration for his father’s achievements. He moved to Paris as a young man and began his literary career writing for the theatre, quickly rising to prominence in the Romantic movement with successful plays like Henri III et sa cour and Antony.
In the 1840s, Dumas turned increasingly toward prose fiction, particularly serialized novels, which reached vast audiences through French newspapers. His collaboration with Auguste Maquet, a skilled plotter and historian, proved fruitful. While Maquet drafted outlines and conducted research, Dumas infused the narratives with flair, dialogue, and color. The result was a string of literary triumphs, including The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo, both published in 1844. These novels exemplified Dumas’s flair for suspenseful pacing, memorable characters, and grand themes of justice, loyalty, and revenge.
The D’Artagnan Romances—The Three Musketeers, Twenty Years After, and The Vicomte of Bragelonne—cemented his fame. They follow the adventures of the titular Gascon hero and his comrades Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, blending historical fact and fiction into richly imagined narratives. The Count of Monte Cristo offered a darker, more introspective tale of betrayal and retribution, with intricate plotting and a deeply philosophical core.
Dumas was also active in journalism and theater. He founded the Théâtre Historique in Paris, which staged dramatizations of his own novels. A prolific and energetic writer, he is estimated to have written or co-written over 100,000 pages of fiction, plays, memoirs, travel books, and essays. He also had a strong interest in food and published a massive culinary encyclopedia, Le Grand Dictionnaire de cuisine, filled with recipes, anecdotes, and reflections on gastronomy.
Despite his enormous success, Dumas was frequently plagued by financial troubles. He led a lavish lifestyle, building the ornate Château de Monte-Cristo near Paris, employing large staffs, and supporting many friends and relatives. His generosity and appetite for life often outpaced his income, leading to mounting debts. Still, his creative drive rarely waned.
Dumas’s mixed-race background was a source of both pride and tension in his life. He was outspoken about his heritage and used his platform to address race and injustice. In his novel Georges, he explored issues of colonialism and identity through a Creole protagonist. Though he encountered racism, he refused to be silenced, famously replying to a racial insult by pointing to his ancestry and achievements with dignity and wit.
Later in life, Dumas continued writing and traveling, spending time in Belgium, Italy, and Russia. He supported nationalist causes, particularly Italian unification, and even founded a newspaper to advocate for Giuseppe Garibaldi. Though his popularity waned somewhat in his final years, his literary legacy grew steadily. He wrote in a style that was accessible, entertaining, and emotionally reso
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 3, 2023
Wenn es darum ging, was Karl-Ludwig Sand so angetrieben hat, da fiel auch sonst fachlich gut aufgestellten Waldorflehrern von Deutsch und Geschichte herzlich wenig ein. Die Zeugnisse dieses Sonderlings voll Sendungsbewusstsein bieten später Geborenen kaum Zugang, die Erfahrung der Befreiungskriege fehlt ebenso wie die Religiosität jener Jahre.
Auch Dumas versucht sich als Redakteur und Verfasser der Zwischentexte eher als Vermittler, bei der abschließenden Schilderung seiner Reise an die Schauplätze und Stätten des Martyriums beschreibt Dumas, frühes Scheitern und späte Glücksfälle, nennt dabei seine Quellen. In Deutschland hat sogar der Henker eine chirurgische Ausbildung, während man die Chirurgen in Frankreich Henker nennt, lässt sich der Autor eine Pointe auf die Mediziner in Paris nicht entgehen.
Mit dem Recherchebericht und persönlichem Zugang zum Thema führt Dumas einen Standard vieler späterer Bücher ein. Die republikanischen Geheimgesellschaften, die der Autor hier aus der Aufklärung bis in die Einigungsbewegungen der Burschenschaften fortführt, weist zudem auf die Pentalogie um den Niedergang der Bourbonen und die französische Revolution (Memoiren eines Arztes) voraus.
Deshalb drei Sterne, zu den Spitzenwerken der Reihe mit den wahren Kriminalfällen (Cenci, Johanna von Neapel, Murat) besteht aber ein qualitativer Riesenabstand, wegen dem man eigentlich zwei Sterne geben müsste.
Auch Dumas versucht sich als Redakteur und Verfasser der Zwischentexte eher als Vermittler, bei der abschließenden Schilderung seiner Reise an die Schauplätze und Stätten des Martyriums beschreibt Dumas, frühes Scheitern und späte Glücksfälle, nennt dabei seine Quellen. In Deutschland hat sogar der Henker eine chirurgische Ausbildung, während man die Chirurgen in Frankreich Henker nennt, lässt sich der Autor eine Pointe auf die Mediziner in Paris nicht entgehen.
Mit dem Recherchebericht und persönlichem Zugang zum Thema führt Dumas einen Standard vieler späterer Bücher ein. Die republikanischen Geheimgesellschaften, die der Autor hier aus der Aufklärung bis in die Einigungsbewegungen der Burschenschaften fortführt, weist zudem auf die Pentalogie um den Niedergang der Bourbonen und die französische Revolution (Memoiren eines Arztes) voraus.
Deshalb drei Sterne, zu den Spitzenwerken der Reihe mit den wahren Kriminalfällen (Cenci, Johanna von Neapel, Murat) besteht aber ein qualitativer Riesenabstand, wegen dem man eigentlich zwei Sterne geben müsste.
April 26, 2023
Thankfully this book has only a few characters. For me that is a plus. Written using archives and first person witnesses, it's a really interesting read. Slightly obsessive, from a religious family Sand a theology student murdered, August von Kotzebue a famous dramatist for his disparaging remarks about national-democratic student fraternities. And for this deadly deed Sand became a martyr to the German nationalists. An enjoyable and informative piece of history.
December 22, 2016
Despite the blaring mistakes if the version I read where the translator kept using the letter A instead of O for certain words, this was an excellent book to read. The first half can equally be placed into any period of a person witnessing tragedy, war and conflict whose views then became warped and changed into madness as a result of it. After which, their eyes opened and finding inner peace, salvation and forgiveness.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews