Notes From Your Bookseller A truly timeless class about revenge, The Count of Monte Cristo is a sprawling adventure inspired by Dumas's own father. A wrongfully-imprisoned Dante sets off on a course of vengeance, and what a thrilling course it is. If ever there are "must-read" books, this is one. Set against the turbulent years of the Napoleonic era, Alexandre Dumas's thrilling adventure story is one of the most widely read romantic novels of all time. In it the dashing young hero, Edmond Dantès, is betrayed by his enemies and thrown into a secret dungeon in the Chateau d'If -- doomed to spend his life in a dank prison cell. The story of his long, intolerable years in captivity, his miraculous escape, and his carefully wrought revenge creates a dramatic tale of mystery and intrigue and paints a vision of France -- a dazzling, dueling, exuberant France -- that has become immortal. "Dumas was... a summit of art. Nobody ever could, or did, or will improve upon Dumas's romances and plays." -- George Bernard Shaw Editorial Reviews A piece of perfect storytelling." -Robert Louis Stevenson - From the Publisher The lightning transformation of Edmond Dantes, blameless sea captain with hair "dark as the raven's wing," from joyous manhood to dungeon wretch is one of the great first acts in literature. Dantes is a Frenchman, but we--as Americans--expect our classics read with an English accent. And so Richard Matthews is spot-on for this sweeping and voluptuous romance. Our imprisoned hero educates himself--yes, students, you mustn't neglect your homework--escapes the dread dungeon of the Chateau d'If, and becomes rich beyond the dreams of avarice. He returns and wreaks a terrible vengeance on the treacherous. Man, woman, French nobility, and Italian banditry, Matthews has the range for a variety of accents and emotions. Excellent performance, great sound. B.H.C. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine - DEC 06/JAN 07 - AudioFile