The Man in the Iron Mask. Александр Дюма

“The Man in the Iron Mask” represents the final portion of the third installment of the ‘D’Artagnan Romances’. Preceded by “The Three Musketeers”, the first volume; “Twenty Years After”, the second volume; “The Vicomte de Bragelonne”, part one of the third volume; “Ten Years Later” part two of the third volume; and “Louise de la Vallière”, part three of the third volume; “The Man in the Iron Mask” is a tale that brings to life the mystery of one of the Bastille’s most famous prisoners, a man whose identity is hidden behind an iron mask. In this work we find the original three Musketeers in retirement and D’Artagnan in the service of the corrupt Louis XIV. While the identity of the original man in the iron mask is unknown, Dumas constructs his story around the idea that the prisoner is in fact the twin brother of Louis XIV, imprisoned from birth by his father to prevent any conflict over a divided rule of the kingdom. When Aramis learns the secret of the man in the iron mask he devises a plot to replace the King with his twin brother, setting in motion a series of events which draws all the Musketeers back into action. An exciting work of political intrigue and high adventure, “The Man in the Iron Mask” brings to a tragic conclusion the adventures of the Musketeers. This edition includes a biographical afterword.