Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
Audiobook1 hour
The Man in the Iron Mask: Celebrated Crimes, book 11
Written by Alexandre Dumas
Narrated by Robert Bethune
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
()
About this audiobook
To paraphrase the note from the translator, The Celebrated Crimes of Alexandre Dumas père was not written for children. The novelist has spared no language—has minced no words—to describe violent scenes of violent times.
In this, the eleventh of the series, Dumas switches away from his usual narrative style and gives us, instead, a detailed review--almost a bibliographic essay--on the various ideas and theories advanced by historians, speculative writers and critics on one of the enduring fascinations of French royal history: the case of The Man in the Iron Mask.
Ever since the time of Louis XIV, the story has been told of a man mysteriously snatched out of the world and buried for life, not merely in a prison cell, but also in an mask of iron: an imprisonment designed to ensure that no one would ever know his name or even see his face. Dumas asks, who was the man in the iron mask? Why was he imprisoned? Why were such strange precautions taken, and why was he treated with such respect and care, given everything he asked for--except his freedom and his name?
Dumas is very scrupulous about his sources, carefully citing the full bibliographic details, while also indulging his novelist's flair for the dramatic. This recording preserves all that, to give the listener the full air of authenticity Dumas so carefully manufactures.
Enjoy!
In this, the eleventh of the series, Dumas switches away from his usual narrative style and gives us, instead, a detailed review--almost a bibliographic essay--on the various ideas and theories advanced by historians, speculative writers and critics on one of the enduring fascinations of French royal history: the case of The Man in the Iron Mask.
Ever since the time of Louis XIV, the story has been told of a man mysteriously snatched out of the world and buried for life, not merely in a prison cell, but also in an mask of iron: an imprisonment designed to ensure that no one would ever know his name or even see his face. Dumas asks, who was the man in the iron mask? Why was he imprisoned? Why were such strange precautions taken, and why was he treated with such respect and care, given everything he asked for--except his freedom and his name?
Dumas is very scrupulous about his sources, carefully citing the full bibliographic details, while also indulging his novelist's flair for the dramatic. This recording preserves all that, to give the listener the full air of authenticity Dumas so carefully manufactures.
Enjoy!
Author
Alexandre Dumas
Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870) was one of the literary lights of France during the Romantic Revolution, his complete works eventually filling over three hundred volumes. George Bernard Shaw described him as "one of the best storytellers…that ever lived." The Man in the Iron Mask and The Three Musketeers are available from Brilliance Audio.
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Titles in the series (17)
Joan of Naples: Celebrated Crimes, book 10 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Man in the Iron Mask: Celebrated Crimes, book 11 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Countess of Saint-Geran: Celebrated Crimes, book 14 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Marquise de Brinvilliers: Celebrated Crimes, Book 16 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Martin Guerre: Celebrated Crimes, book 12 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Marquise de Ganges: Celebrated Crimes, Book 18 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ali Pasha: Celebrated Crimes book 13 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Murat: Celebrated Crimes, book 15 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Vaninka: Celebrated Crimes, Book 17 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Antonin Derues: Celebrated Crimes, book 8 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Urbain Grandier: Celebrated Crimes, Book 6 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Borgias: Celebrated Crimes, Book 1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Karl-Ludwig Sand: Celebrated Crimes, Book 5 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Nisida: Celebrated Crimes, Book 7 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Massacres of the South: Celebrated Crimes, Book 3 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMary Stuart: Celebrated Crimes: Book 4 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Cenci: Celebrated Crimes, Book 2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
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