Overview

Indeed, the story of France from the Renaissance to the nineteenth century, as Dumas vibrantly retold it in his numerous enormously popular novels, has long been absent one vital, richly historical era: the Age of Napoleon. But no longer. Now, dynamically, in a tale of family honor and undying vengeance, of high adventure and heroic derring-do, The Last Cavalier fills that gap.

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9781933648316

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A hit from the vaults: Dumas pere's final work, reconstructed from 140-year-old newspapers.Dumas is renowned, of course, for swashbuckling tales such as The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo, studded with cliffhangers and moral lessons lightly delivered. This title is of a piece, the wrinkle being that Dumas wrote it, a la Dickens, as a newspaper serial and was far from finishing the story when he died. Dumas scholar Claude Schopp, whose literary detective work is responsible for this book, published in France in 2005, hazards missing links and provides the closing chapters, working from Dumas's notes; it's a neat bit of literary sleight-of-hand. While telling a grand tale of adventure, Dumas reminds his readers that the glorious France of the Napoleonic era had plenty of inglorious moments. His Napoleon is smart and power-hungry, as he announces in the opening sentence: Now that we are in the Tuileries we must try to stay. Easier said than done, for Napoleon is surrounded by enemies, mostly of the scheming-politician variety, and distracted from his duties by his wife's lavish spending; there are wars to fight, too, and much else to be done. Enter the noble Saint-Hermine, stripped of his title, who, chapter by chapter, hacks his way across land and sea to redeem himself at places such as Trafalgar, where Dumas movingly depicts the death of Lord Nelson and breaks the fourth wall in the bargain ( It seems to me that one of the greatest warriors the world has ever known should be accompanied all the way to death's door, if not by a historian, at least by a novelist ). Hermine has his enemies, too, and even a few friends, and sometimes both at once, among them the only man whom Napoleon fears - ah, and therein hangs a tale.A big book, and a pleasure for anyone who thrills at the likes of D'Artagnan and company. (Kirkus Reviews)

Author Information

One of the most famous French writers of the nineteenth century, Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870) first achieved success in the literary world a playwright, before turning his hand to writing novels. In two years from 1844 to 1855, he published two enormous books, The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers. Both novels have sold millions of copies worldwide. Lauren Yoder is Professor of French at Davidson College in North Carolina. As a child, he devoured he novels of Alexandre Dumas. Lauren holds a Ph.D. from the University of Iowa.

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