{"product_id":"the-count-of-monte-cristo-abridged-9780553213508","title":"The Count of Monte Cristo: Abridged","description":"\u003cb\u003eNominated as one of America's best-loved novels by PBS's \u003ci\u003eThe Great American Read\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA popular bestseller since its publication in 1844, \u003ci\u003eThe Count of Monte Cristo\u003c\/i\u003e is one of the great page-turning thrillers of all time. Set against the tumultuous years of the post-Napoleonic era, Alexandre Dumas's grand historical romance recounts the swashbuckling adventures of Edmond Dant s, a dashing young sailor falsely accused of treason. The story of his long imprisonment, dramatic escape, and carefully wrought revenge offers up a vision of France that has become immortal. As Robert Louis Stevenson declared, \"I do not believe there is another volume extant where you can breathe the same unmingled atmosphere of romance.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAlexandre Dumas\u003c\/b\u003e (1802-1870) lived a life as romantic as that depicted in his famous novels. He was born in Villers-Cotterêts, France. His early education was scanty, but his beautiful handwriting secured him a position in Paris in 1822 with the du'Orléans, where he read voraciously and began to write. His first play, \u003ci\u003eHenri III et sa cour \u003c\/i\u003e(1829), scored a resounding success for its author and the romantic movement. His lavish spending and flamboyant habits led to the construction of his fabulous Château de Monte-Cristo, and in 1851 he fled to Belgium to escape creditors. Dumas's overall literary output reached more than 277 volumes, but his brilliant historical novels made him the most universally read of all French novelists. With collaborators, mainly Auguste Maquet, Dumas wrote such works as \u003ci\u003eThe Three Musketeers \u003c\/i\u003e(1843-1844); its sequels, \u003ci\u003eTwenty Years After \u003c\/i\u003e(1845) and the great mystery \u003ci\u003eThe Man in the Iron Mask \u003c\/i\u003e(1845-1850); and \u003ci\u003eThe Count of Monte Cristo \u003c\/i\u003e(1844). His work ignored historical accuracy, psychology, and analysis, but its thrilling adventure and exuberant inventiveness continued to delight readers, and Dumas remains one of the prodigies of nineteenth-century French literature.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Bantam Classics","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50572762448146,"sku":"9780553213508","price":5.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_b1c4fb4d-3512-4b3b-8933-c8e662845cec.jpg?v=1731968556","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-count-of-monte-cristo-abridged-9780553213508","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}