Alexandre Dumasย (1802โ1870) lived a life as romantic as that depicted in his famous novels. He was born in Villers-Cotterรชts, France. His early education was scanty, but his beautiful handwriting secured him a position in Paris in 1822 with the duโOrlรฉans, where he read voraciously and began to write. His first play,ย Henri III et sa courย (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 Chรขteau de Monte-Cristo, and in 1851 he fled to Belgium to escape creditors. Dumasโs 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 asย The Three Musketeersย (1843โ1844); its sequels,ย Twenty Years Afterย (1845) and the great mysteryย The Man in the Iron Maskย (1845โ1850); andย The Count of Monte Cristoย (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.