The Three Musketeers (Alexandre Dumas, 1844)

I just finished The Three Musketeers, another Classic Adventures romp, this time through seventeenth century Paris, following D'Artagnan and his three friends, Athos, Porthos and Aramis as they become involved in court intrigues and war with England. 

I enjoyed this book, although occasionally it took some concentration to work out who was tricking whom at some points, and despite the three musketeers having clearly defined personalities, I had trouble picking them apart, and remembering which one was religious, which was vain, etc - one reason for this I think is that although the book is named for them, it is D'Artagnan's story that dominates, the musketeers are his side kicks and supporting players. 

Dumas writes with a dry sense of humour, and the plot moves on apace, with meetings between characters often not showing their import until several chapters later. The central plot involves a mysterious gentleman and then a mysterious lady, or Milady, who come to offend D'Artagnan. As the book moved on and storylines began to interweave more clearly, I very much enjoyed the caper. The French history lesson along the way is interesting too.