The Count of Monte Cristo

Thrown in prison for a crime he has not committed, Edmond Dantès is confined to the grim fortress of If. There he learns of a great hoard of treasure hidden on the Isle of Monte Cristo and he becomes determined not only to escape, but also to unearth the treasure and use it to plot the destruction of the three men responsible for his incarceration. 

This English translation, dating back to 1846, has never been authoritatively traced to a translator—a longstanding literary mystery befitting a book beloved by generation after generation of readers.
 

Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870) was a French novelist best known for The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo. The grandson of a marquis and the son of a famous general, Dumas was a prolific playwright, travel-writer, and head of a production studio who chose his enslaved grandmother’s surname for his professional nom de plume.