The Three Musketeers; this swashbuckling epic of chivalry, honor, and derring-do, set in France during the 1620s, is richly populated with romantic heroes, unattainable heroines, kings, queens, cavaliers, and criminals in a whirl of adventure, espionage, conspiracy, murder, vengeance, love, scandal, and suspense.

Dumas transforms minor historical figures into larger- than-life characters: the Comte d'Artagnan, an impetuous young man in pursuit of glory; the beguilingly evil seductress "Milady"; the powerful and devious Cardinal Richelieu; the weak King Louis XIII and his unhappy queen-and, of course, the three musketeers themselves, Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, whose motto "all for one, one for all" has come to epitomize devoted friendship.

With a plot that delivers stolen diamonds, masked balls, purloined letters, and, of course, great bouts of swordplay, The Three Musketeers is eternally entertaining.

Written by Alexandre Dumas.