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Alexandre Dumas’s Followers (12,351)

Alexandre Dumas

Born

in Villers-Cotterêts, Aisne, France

July 24, 1802

Died

December 05, 1870

Genre

Adventure, Romance, Fiction

Influences

Walter Scott, Lord Byron, Hector Berlioz ...more

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This 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 a This 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 ...more

Combine Editions
Alexandre Dumas’s books

Average rating: 4.23 · 1,665,275 ratings · 68,420 reviews · 7,241 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Count of Monte Cristo 4.32 avg rating — 1,018,618 ratings — published 1844 — 315 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Three Musketeers (Trilogie des mousquetaires #1) 4.10 avg rating — 346,083 ratings — published 1844 — 4666 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Man in the Iron Mask (Le vicomte de Bragelonne #4/4) really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 66,405 ratings — published 1847	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Twenty Years After (Trilogie des mousquetaires #2) by Alexandre Dumas, David Coward (Editor), Auguste Maquet (Co-Author) 4.09 avg rating — 25,719 ratings — published 1845 — 697 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Black Tulip 3.86 avg rating — 23,500 ratings — published 1850 — 14 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Le comte de Monte-Cristo I (#1/2) 4.53 avg rating — 17,727 ratings — published 1844 — 18 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Robin Hood: The Prince of Thieves 3.97 avg rating — 19,412 ratings — published 1862 — 282 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Le comte de Monte-Cristo II (#2/2) 4.62 avg rating — 13,493 ratings — published 1844 — 463 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Queen Margot (The Last Valois #1) 4.15 avg rating — 14,578 ratings — published 1845 — 715 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Vicomte de Bragelonne (Le vicomte de Bragelonne #1/3) by Alexandre Dumas, David Coward (Editor) really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 8,688 ratings — published 1850	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Alexandre Dumas…

Series by Alexandre Dumas

Trilogie des mousquetaires (3 books)
by

Alexandre Dumas,

Tomaso Monicelli (Translator)

4.10 avg rating — 375,962 ratings

The Last Valois (3 books)
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Alexandre Dumas

4.15 avg rating — 19,970 ratings

Valois Romances (7 books)
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Alexandre Dumas

4.15 avg rating — 19,747 ratings

Mémoires d'un médecin (5 books)
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Julie Rose (Translator)

3.91 avg rating — 5,539 ratings

كونت مونت كريستو (3 books)
by

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محمد آيت حنا (Translator)

4.57 avg rating — 3,826 ratings

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Alexandre Dumas’s Followers (12,351)

Alexandre Dumas

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Series by Alexandre Dumas

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Combine Editions
Alexandre Dumas’s books