The Man in the Iron Mask (Wordsworth Classics)

Rip roaring adventure.

The final book of 'The Three Musketeers' saga. This is a superb read, a genuine classic. Everything in the previous books is beautifully concluded, a work of brilliance. Read it!

A great part of the musketeers series

So much of this book is simply wonderful, as with the earlier parts, and I think Dumas's imagination in using the Man in the Iron Mask theme so cleverly is simply amazing. I read the whole series from start to finish when I was about 13. Before that, at age 9 I had found the first book at home on a bookshelf and I read it then as I'd seen a movie version notlong before, and thenI read it several times more. The whole series is a simply marathon read but I have always loved marathon reads so that a writer, so long as,has the skills, can develop a theme to the full. I only remove one star now because in my current (only second) reread because after all these years my view of d'Artagnan has changed. I really cannot any longer see him as the dynamic hero. Even thouigh my favourite in the books was always Aramis, I did as a child think d'Artagnan pretty wonderful. Now I am totally devoted to Aramis and his fascinating scheming and how he keeps steps ahead of d'Artagnan most of the time. Aramis is an ambitious schemer, a clever, dynamic and devious free-thinker with ideas that are partly for the benefit of whoever but also for the benefit in certain ways of France. During all these books, France has opposing political forces (in the stories as well as in real life). D'Artagnan is the good and mostly noble soldier (Dumas's musketeers are never perfect human beings, they have the warts too...) but like any soldier he is required to be blindly loyal to the King. D'Artagnan isn't always "blindly" loyal, but at times his loyalty is trying when it's only too clear that Aramis's scheme is far more sensible than whatever d'Artagnan thinks the King needs to know. So I become irritated often with d'Artagnan in these later books because of his loyalty and continually enthralled by Aramis's enterprises. It's this rivalry that underpins the later 3 books, and in the end it leads to a finale that in some ways is simply supberb but in just a few ways is - in my view - unduly biased towards d'Artagnan. But of course, the Gascon who remains a musketeer all his life does seem to be the writer's favourite and I've heard that Aramis was very often not liked at all - I suppose because he defies and often outwits "the hero" who in real life was quite famous whilst the real life Athos, Porthos and Aramis (yes they all existed, with near enough those names) were not well known. I quickly took sides from Twenty Years After onwards and it was never d'Artagnan's side. Aramis was the leader of events in my view, d'Artagnan the Royal agent trying to keep up with Aramis, Athos was the retired incredibly decent and noble gentleman, almost a recluse but for attending to his adopted son Raoul. Athos is almost too good to be true. Porthos was a lot of fun and very lovable and helpful to his friends and Aramis says that Porthos is the man in all the world whom he most loves. The real life Athos was not a comte but a kind of nouveau riche - often identified by their string of titles such as the real Athos and Porthos both had. Athos was one of his titles. His first name was Armand (Dumas gave him the first name Olivier, not in the books but in a play he wrote later), and he died around age 25, probably in a duel amongst those quarrelsome young men. He may have served with Henri d'Amaritz (Aramis, called Rene d'Herblay in the books), who was of true noble birth although didn't have a title. The "old nobility" didn't always have titles. Their names/families/properties proclaimed if they were genuine old nobility - knights of old, and the like - of centuries back. Nouveau-riche type "nobles" like Athos and Porthos obtained a title (Porthos as Baron) through services in administration or whatever work for the community. Aramis retired from the musketeers in due course, returned to his lands and married. He also inherited a status of "lay preacher" - he was not in the priesthood. Isaac de Porthau was from an area called Porthau and a family of administrators and the like. Treville was a comte and related to all of the "four musketeers" one way or another. D'Artagnan, I think I remember rightly, was somewhat older than the others and may have met Athos before Athos died. D'Artagnan did quite late in life become Captain of the Musketeers. All four of these men were from the same area of France as Treville - Gascony. My information is from a fascinating book you can find on Amazon: "Four Musketeers: The True Story of D'Artagnan, Porthos, Aramis and Athos"

All books received excellent and excellent price fast delivery

Not the easiest of reads it has to be admitted, but one well worth the effort. A must for serious readers D L L

i love his work. Great stories. I brought this for my daughter i hope she loves his stories as much as I do. the next one on my list is the Corsican brothers. I haven't read it for years but I would love to find it again.

Classical. If you have not Read this please do. If you have Read again.

O livro é maravilhoso é igual ao do anúncio perfeito.

good reading 5 star

I haven't read this since I ordered it but I read it befor 40 years and I know it is a very good novel.

Glad I have this. Since it's one of my favorite writers.

Livro é de um material bem pobre, páginas parecem jornal. Certamente mudaram de cor, mas ainda creio que vale o valor de 29,00 por uma edição econômica importada. Ainda vou terminar de ler mas creio que pela tradução e comentários já é o bastante.