Twenty years after
Alexandre Dumas
Twenty years after
Alexandre Dumas with Auguste Maquet
92 chapters·25h 44m listening
4.10from 26,496 ratingson Goodreads
"Twenty years after" by Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet is a novel serialized from January to August 1845. D'Artagnan, still a lowly lieutenant after two decades, is summoned by the despised Cardinal Mazarin during France's brewing rebellion. Tasked with reuniting the legendary musketeers, he tracks down his old friends—now scattered across vastly different lives. As political turmoil engulfs both France and England during the English Civil War, the four heroes must navigate their conflicting loyalties and set aside their differences for one last mission.
Contains spoilers for the entire book
- Themes
- Atmosphere
About the book
Serialized in 1845, Twenty Years After is the sequel to The Three Musketeers. Two decades on, d’Artagnan is still a lieutenant of musketeers, now in the service of Cardinal Mazarin during the civil disorder of the Fronde, and he sets out to find Athos, Porthos and Aramis, who have gone their separate ways and do not all stand on the same side. Alexandre Dumas, writing with his collaborator Auguste Maquet, carries the four friends from Paris to England in the midst of its civil war and the fate of King Charles I, pursued by Mordaunt, a young man bent on avenging his mother. Full of escapes, intrigue and divided loyalties, the novel shows the old comrades older and more doubtful, but bound by their friendship.
Characters
d'Artagnan — Musketeer
Still in royal service, he seeks out his former companions amid the political conflicts of the Fronde.
Athos — Former musketeer
Now the Comte de la Fère, he combines aristocratic principle with devotion to his young ward.
Porthos — Former musketeer
A wealthy landowner whose appetite for honors draws him back into adventure.
Aramis — Former musketeer
Now an abbé, he remains involved in intrigue and the competing loyalties of court politics.
Raoul de Bragelonne — Athos's ward
A young nobleman beginning his military and emotional education.
Cardinal Mazarin — Minister
The queen's chief minister, maneuvering to preserve royal authority during civil unrest.
Mordaunt — Adversary
A young man pursuing a family grievance with relentless determination.
About the author
Alexandre Dumas with Auguste Maquet
Alexandre Dumas (1802–1870) and Auguste Maquet (1813–1888) wrote together for a decade, and the books everyone knows as Dumas's came out of that partnership: Maquet worked up the history and drafted the plots, Dumas wrote the version that was published. Dumas was the grandson of an enslaved woman in Saint-Domingue and the son of one of Napoleon's generals, and he produced serial fiction at industrial speed for the newspapers of his day. Maquet sued for credit and a share of the proceeds in 1858 and largely lost. The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers are both theirs.