The Man in the Iron Mask (Oxford World's Classics)

Book Description

Alexandre Dumas was already a best-selling novelist when he wrote this historical romance, combining (as he claimed) the two essentials of life--"l'action et l'amour." The Man in the Iron Mask concludes the epic adventures of the three Muskateers, as Athos, Porthos, Aramis, and their friend
D'Artagnan, once invincible, meet their destinies.

Customer Reviews:

Forget the movie, read the book!!.......2007-07-13

Oh wow, what a great end to an incredible ride, the story of the Musketeers. I haven't been so engrossed in a series of books since I picked up Diana Gabaldon's Outlander. Athos, Raoul, Porthos, Aramis and of course D'Artagnan are going to be in my thoughts and dreams for some time, I hate to let them go.

If you are expecting the story as told by Hollywood, forget it. While I haven't seen the latest version with Leonardo DiCaprio (forgive me if I spell it wrong), I looked at the reader reviews and was quite surprised at how different the book is from Hollywood's version. I also recall a movie done in the late 70's/80's that is nothing like the book as well. I would pick it apart point by point, but that would include spoilers. The Man in the Iron Mask is actually the last third of a huge novel by Dumas originally titled The Vicomte de Bragelonne. Because of the size of the book, English publishers have divided into three books, The Vicomte de Bragelonne, Louise de la Valliere, and The Man in the Iron Mask.

Suffice it to say that TMITIM is the final chapter of our heroic Musketeers, as well as Raoul, the son of Athos. While we all know the story of Louis XIV's twin and the plot to substitute him, that is a minor part of the whole story, as the action then becomes centered on the aftermath of that plot and Louis' revenge. It has been a grand, glorious ride reading this series, The Three Musketeers, Twenty Years After, The Vicomte de Bragelonne, Louise de la Valliere and The Man In the Iron Mask. And do have your box of tissue handy for the last 20-30 pages. You'll need it.

One side note, some people are purchasing this as a stand-alone book, which it is not. You could probably get away with that, but you'll spend so much time looking back at the footnotes trying to figure who is who I doubt you will enjoy the story as much. Also, this version didn't have the list of characters that the VDB and LDLV did. Go for broke and read the whole thing, it's well worth it.

Who was the man in the iron mask?.......2006-05-27

In life, he was sentenced to a cruel fate--in death, he would become a legend. Alexandre Dumas tells the tale of the mysterious man who was imprisoned in the Bastille starting in the 168o's until his death some thirty years later. During that time his face had been hidden by an iron mask. While his identity remains a mystery, there are some tantalizing clues which might remove the mask from the man. Most prisoners of the French prison were usually important people who had fallen out of favor with King Louis XIV. Given strict orders by the king, the Musketeers were to kill him if he removed his mask. He ate in the mask, slept in the mask, and eventually died in the mask.

In 1717, Voltaire was imprisoned at the Bastille. According to him, the man in the iron mask was around 60 when he died, and bore a striking resemblance to a very famous aristocrat. Of course, the most famous aristocrat in France at that time was King Louis XIV, who was also in his 60's. Another prisoner at the Bastille, Joseph de Lagrange, asserted that Benigne d'Auvergne de Saint, the governor of Sainte Marguerite, treated the mystery man deferentially and referred to him as 'prince'.

Stories about the mysterious prisoner are conflicting. Some state that he wore a mask of velvet, not iron. Evidence has surfaced saying that the prisoner was buried under the name M. de Marchiel. And later, a death certificate giving the prisoner's name as Marchioly and his age of 45 was found.
Another states, that in 1789 Frederic Grimm, a famous writer, claimed that a valet had revealed to him that Louis XIV had an identical twin. And that Louis XIII, feared the brothers would grow up to fight over the throne, so he sent the second-born baby away to be raised in secret.

The boy was taken into a nobleman's household and treated with great respect, but he was never told who he really was. As he grew up, he saw a portrait of King Louis XIV and guessed the truth. He was immediately arrested, and spent the rest of his life as the Man in the Iron Mask. Many people believed this to be false, and believe it was elaborated and embroidered by Alexandre Dumas as the years passed. It has been said that when the Bastille was stormed by a revolutionary mob, the prince's skeleton was discovered, still wearing his iron mask. Of course, there is no record that this actually happened.

The Final Bow of the Musketeers.......2005-08-15

Before you start this book you should know that any resemblance between the book and the movies that Hollywood has turned out is completely accidental. The names of the main characters are about the only similarity that I could find and as is the norm, the book was much better.

This, the last installment in the Musketeer series, gives us the story of the final acts of our heroes, Athos, Porthos, Aramis and D'Artagnan. Unlike many literary characters our Musketeer friends have aged as the story progresses and have all retired but D'Artagnan who is still the Captain of the King's Musketeers. Athos and Porthos are quite wealthy and Aramis has attained the rank of Bishop. Aramis is not content with his station however and knows a secret that he thinks he can use to become Pope. This secret is the knowledge that Louis XIV has a twin brother who is hidden away in the Bastille and Aramis is quite sure that this brother would make a better King than the current monarch. Aramis is also pretty sure that the new King in gratitude will nominate his liberator for the office of Cardinal and then will scheme to make the new Cardinal Pope.

In this plot Aramis acts alone except for some help from Porthos who has no idea what he is involved in. The twins are successfully switched for a short while but then the plot falls apart and Aramis and Porthos flee for their lives although Porthos is still not sure what is going on. The "pretender" to the throne is left to his own devices by Aramis and is imprisoned in a new location with the iron mask added to his discomfiture. Aramis does not come across in this book as much of a hero and in many respects this story is much darker than it's predecessors.

Given the advanced age of the Musketeers, there are not nearly as many swashbuckling adventures as one is accustomed to but on occasion Porthos in particular will rise to the challenge. The political intrigues of the Court of Louis XIV and the decline of the Musketeers are in fact the main plot lines of this story. In the end, only one of the four is left and to find out which one you will just have to read the book. Athos, by the way, only seems to play a side role in this story and is neither involved in the plot against the King or in his rescue.

As is always the case, Dumas' writing style is superb and is filled with historical fact. He does tend to be a bit wordy and his books are often much longer than necessary but even with this slight drawback he ranks as one of my all-time favorite authors. In this book Dumas closes out the careers of his most popular characters and he does it with style.

No One Can Write a More Thrilling Story than Dumas.......2005-05-05

Having just spent the last few months reading all five books in the Three Musketeer series, the following are my suggestions.

1. Read all five books in order. The Man in the Iron Mask is probably enjoyable on its own but reading the four books that proceed it help place the story in its proper context. Think of the Man in the Iron Mask as the dessert in a five course meal. Dessert is great but the four proceeding course are also enjoyable. Getting to the end of the book was especially enjoyable knowing that I was finishing a 3,500 page experience.

2. Read the Oxford University editions. There are wonderful end notes that help the reader keep track of the characters and events. When you read 3,500 pages you need that type of assistance to keep things straight. The Introductions are also very well written and help the reader get back into focus before beginning the next chapter.

3. If you really like any one book in particular, go to the internet and purchase a well illustrated used hardback edition for your collection. I purchased a used Three Musketeers with illustrations by Maurice Leloir. The three hundred plus illustrations make that edition especially enjoyable.

Along with Sir Walter Scott, Alexandre Dumas created the genre of the historical adventure novel. I have been reading these types of novels my entire life. Beyond a doubt, Alexandre Dumas is the master virtuoso of this genre.

The end of a trilogy.......2005-01-27

The Man in the Iron Mask is not actually a book -- it is the last volume of a very large book entitled Le Vicomte du Bragalonne or Ten Years After. Le Vicomte is divided into three parts, typically called "Le Vicomte du Bragalonne," "Louise de la Valliere", and of course, "The Man in the Iron Mask."

Thus, if you read only this book, don't be surprised that it sometimes seems you are catching only the end of a conversation.

The larger work, Le Vicomte, is named after Athos's son, and it follows the young vicomte through his life and love -- taking large detours to a young Louis the XIV's court. Our heroic musketeers, Athos, Porthos, Aramis, and d'Artagnan make only small appearances throughout, but these scenes are the most memorable of the musketeers series.

The Man in the Iron Mask brings our four fast friends together again, for one last adventure. This time, though, they are at odds with one another, divided by their own key character traits.

I have personally seen several movie versions of the Man in the Iron Mask, and I have never seen one I liked. Skip the movies -- read the book. And if you find yourself entranced, go get the first two volumes, and enjoy!

The Man in the Iron Mask (Penguin Classics)

Average customer rating:

A book that I thought was a DVD
Tabloid-style historical novel
Good but expected more
Definitely isn't the movie...

The Man in the Iron Mask (Penguin Classics)
Alexandre Dumas père
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0140439242
Release Date: 2003-03-25

Book Description

In the Musketeers' final adventure, D'Artagnan remains in the service of the corrupt King Louis XIV after the Three Musketeers have retired and gone their separate ways. Meanwhile, a mysterious prisoner in an iron mask wastes away deep inside the Bastille. When the destinies of king and prisoner converge, the Three Musketeers and D'Artagnan find themselves caught between conflicting loyalties.

Introduction by Francine du Plessix Gray
Translated by Joachim Neugroschel

Customer Reviews:

A book that I thought was a DVD.......2007-06-26

I oredered this book but I thought I was order a DVD my mistake, but its always a pleasue doing business bie Amazon.
Ron

Tabloid-style historical novel.......2006-08-17

This one's a real curate's egg. Buy this if you love a good historical yarn, constant plot development, intrigue and speculation on one of the great periods and what-ifs of any period in any country's history. It's a page-turner and lovely if it catches you in the right mood.

Do not buy this if you're more the sort that doesn't care so much what happens as how it's described. Character development is limited and nobody really comes to life in true 3-D, which would have been the making of this novel. On the other hand some of the intrigue we see is quite nicely developed.

I am the sort who likes to have a few books on the go at once and to deliberate over things and savour the status quo at any point, always expecting never to re-read (I'm sure you're thrilled at this insight). I must say that menas I've tended to hurry to another book from this one and it's not holding my attention. It reads like a play and would have been better in that format, but by trying to have a main plot and subplot it all reads too cleanly.

If you really love the genre of historical novels nothing quite beats 'The Leopard' by Lampedusa, but it's more after my likes. I wish this book were really about something, be it "How far it is possible in politics to achieve what you want with a bi of talent and status" but other books do much better and this doesn't have such lofty ambitions.

Ultimately, some good effects but really unmemorable.

Good but expected more.......2006-03-20

I saw and loved the movie so I just had to get the book to compare, books are usually better. The problem is that it doesn't compare, the stories are totally different. That being the case the book was interesting, exciting at some points and a little difficult to understand because of the era in which it was written. It has little to do with the "man" in the iron mask and it is more an extension of the Three Musketeers.

Definitely isn't the movie..........2004-09-29

Having just finished The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers, I ventured to find more books from the wonderful author Alexandre Dumas, and stumbled upon this book, which is one in the Three Musketeers series. It takes place while the three (well, really FOUR) musketeers are no longer in their prime, and are becoming a bit aged, though not lacking whatsoever in wit or a thirst for adventure. OH, and a warning before I continue: if you are reading this book simply because you saw the movie, enjoyed it, and would like to see if the book is similar, do NOT expect them to be similar in very many ways at all. In fact, the movie would only be a portion of the book, and quite altered in many parts. However, if you are simply reading this book for the sake of enjoying it, read it! The title of the book may be a bit misleading, for it only refers to the first half of the actual book, but that doesn't matter--the book itself is wonderful. Summaries are easy to obtain, and so I shall not bore anyone with a summary, but I shall say this: the ending(s?!?) made me cry more than I had cried in a long time. Perhaps I was only feeling sensitive that day; but the book, it was truly sad at the end...this book is the end of the Three Musketeers, and a memorable one it is indeed.

Average customer rating:

It's Alive!
The perfect package
Why the Man is more important than the Iron...
I like it.
More credit for Quesada!

Iron Man: The Mask in the Iron Man
Joe Quesada , Alitha Martinez , and Sean Chen
Manufacturer: Marvel Comics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Iron Man Vol. 1: Extremis
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ASIN: 0785107762

Book Description

Playboy Tony Stark has it all: Unlimited wealth, beautiful women and brilliance beyond compare. Things seem perfect... but are they? Sometimes, the one closest to you can become your deadliest enemy! Tony Stark attempts to make sense of what exactly is happening to his famous armor, only to find that one of his greatest fears has come true.

It`s Iron Man vs. Iron Man! Tony Stark now has to defend himself against his greatest invention the Iron Man armor itself! Who or what is controlling this most deadly weapon? And does Stark stand a chance against his own secret identity or will this be the case of the creation surpassing the creator? A story that surpasses ordinary super hero slugfests to face the issues of creation and personal redemption, The Mask in the Iron Man is an unforgettable chapter in the history of one of comicdom's best known characters.

Customer Reviews:

It's Alive!.......2006-09-02

Mask in the Iron Man, by Joe Quesada, Sean Chen and Alitha Martinez, was the first Iron Man tale in quite some time that managed to impress me. I started reading comics in 1989, and after a single issue (#246 in case you were wondering) Iron Man became my favorite Marvel character. Unfortunately I arrived just as the last truly great Iron Man run was ending. Since that point there have been a few good moments, such as John Romita's Armor Wars II and the ill-fated Heroes Reborn series, but for the most part the Iron Man series had been mediocre at best.

The Heroes Return relaunch put the series on a better footing, and with an artist (Chen) who was truly capable of handling the character. Two years into the series, Marvel head honcho Joe Quesada stepped in to handle the writing chores for the issues collected in this trade paperback. The basic premise is this: what would happen if Iron Man's armor gained sentience?

Never mind that the method it gained sentience is borderline absurd (bad Y2K software plus a lightning strike), it was still a fascinating concept. What kind of personality would the world's most technologically advanced weapon have? What would it want? What would it do? And could Tony Stark stop it if he needed to?

Apparently the armor is not unlike a surly adolescent. It wants attention and it is extremely jealous. It proceeds in pure stalker fashion to wreck Tony's life, destroy his relationship, and even kills one of his enemies. This is fascinating stuff, and for the most part Quesada handles the story quite well. Without giving too much away, the ending stretches belief, even by comic book standards. Quite frankly, there's no way the Iron Man suit is even remotely affected by Tony's "Survivor" tricks.

The artwork by Chen and Martinez is first rate. Both artists have a very similar style, and have the ability to inject energy into mundane conversation scenes as much as they do with the fight scenes. I would have much rather seen Joe Quesada provide the artwork for these issues as well (his cover art just made me want more), but I have no real complaints.

It's not perfect, but the series is by far the best Iron Man story I have read since the original Armor Wars saga. My only real complaint is that the Wizard send-away ½ issue, which was part of the story, wasn't included.

The perfect package.......2006-07-07

Ok, I've read comics for years, but mainly DC. This isn't the first time I've read Iron Man, but the other times I read it was just flipping through pages at the comic store. The character always interested me but I never took the plunge. This paperback was my first Iron Man purchase and my first step into the world of Iron Man comics. With that said, let me assure anyone who is thinking about getting into Iron Man and is looking for a starting point, this is perfect.

The story arch is self-contained, and you don't need any knowledge of Iron Man history to know what's going on. The story is that over the many upgrades Tony Stark has made to the armor over time, and with the help of a massive electric charge by an enemy attack, the armor comes to life and becomes a sentient being. Stark opts to try to work with the armor and teach it right from wrong, but it doesn't work out that way and they end up facing off.

I skipped a lot of details becuase I don't want to give too much away. The characters are well written and there is definetly a lot of depth, and the story moved at a great pace. The artwork was fantastic and the whole thing felt really nicely done.

This is a very good paperback and I would highly recommend it to anyone who is a fan of comics and wants to get into Iron Man.

Why the Man is more important than the Iron..........2005-09-05

"The Mask in the Iron Man" is one of the more interesting stories since IM got rebooted since Heroes Return. Reason being, Quesada, rather than get caught up in trying to make Iron Man Cool with the latest improbable technology (which he does do), instead focuses on what makes Iron Man work in the first place: character. It's Stark himself, a man who suffers from the threat of heart failure and the relapse of alcoholism, that proves why this character still works after 40 years.

It's also an interesting study on why the armor exists at all in the first place. Is it more to keep threats like the Mandarin or Whiplash out? Or is it to put a barrier between friends and lovers, and himself? The awakening of the armor into sentience (which, I admit is a Rube Goldberg sequence of happenstance so improbable, I had to deduct one star, but it's still a rocking story) asks the old chestnuts "how do we define life" and "what is one life worth" in a whole new frame of reference, not from our P.O.V., but from the armor's AI.

Sean Chen's artwork is dense, but quality, and perfectly compliments Quesada's equally dense prose. Combined they show Tony Stark as the fascinating, contridictory character that he is, and "the Mask in the Iron Man" is a interesting study.

Now if they'll only collect Warren Ellis's "Extremis", I'll be a happy man...

I like it........2004-03-28

I used to think Iron Man was a stupid idea with a stupid costume. I was at the library looking for a comic to check out when I saw this. I looked at it, curious to see what was behind the cool looking cover. I liked the artwork(bad artwork turns a good comic story to garbage) and I thought the Idea of a hero stripped of his super powers(or armor), and forced to face them was pretty cool.

I think there where a few things I found frustrating, like Tony's relationship with Ru feels like it's falling apart( I find that frustrating), and the battles could have been more exiting(more heavily speed lined, different angles, more dramatic reactions, etc.). There were 3 to 6 fights of so.

Tony's armor is, to him, a menace. He tries to teach it to be a hero, because he can't kill it. It's to powerful. The armor get's the wrong idea and kills someone. the situation is very touchy, one wrong move and your dead. Thats the exitement.

The thing I think that sort of kripples the comics spice is all the words. He's telling the story to you, then there's all the talking. He(Tony) tells the story even in fights, which intimidates readers. It could have been made better (nearly everything in life could be better) but that doesn't mean it's bad. You might be the type who likes to read lots of diologue.

More credit for Quesada!.......2004-02-21

I have to say I really enjoyed this collection of issues from the latest Iron Man volume(!), the only part that didn't hold water being the relationship between Tony Stark and Rumiko Fujikawa.
Strange how Joe Quesada managed to actually make us feel sympathy for a deranged suit of sentient armor as it 'falls in love' with its creator, and the desparate battle that ensues is sure to quicken the pulse of loyal readers every time. The part I most enjoyed was the confrontation with Whiplash (formerly Blacklash) despite the kinky garb he was given, the ending of which I reckon would make a fantastic cliffhanger for the end of the long-awaited Iron Man movie- what a shame Tony wakes up and the revealing of his identity was... all a dream!! Maybe in an alternate reality this could have spun the comic into a completely different direction, and I feel it's a pity that it wasn't given a chance. Perhaps they should have kept that one 'in the wood' for a quiet moment in the title, as opposed to stunting this awesome opportunity in the middle of another big story.
As with all graphic novels I love reading comics without the advertisements, and the pace of this story arc is excellent. Give yourself a treat if only for another copy of the fantastic Sean Chen cover from issue #29.

The Man in the Iron Mask (The Classic Collection)

Average customer rating:

The Man in the Iron Mask (The Classic Collection)
Alexandre Dumas
Manufacturer: Brilliance Audio on CD Unabridged
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

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The Three Musketeers (The Classic Collection)
Robinson Crusoe (The Classic Collection)
Ivanhoe (The Classic Collection)
The Scarlet Pimpernel (The Classic Collection)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame

ASIN: 1423310829
Release Date: 2006-06-25

Book Description

Deep inside the dreaded Bastille, a twenty-three-year-old prisoner called merely "Philippe" has languished for eight long, dark years. He does not know his real name or what crime he is supposed to have committed. But Aramis, one of the original Three Musketeers, has bribed his way into the cell to reveal the shocking secret that has kept Philippe locked away from the world. That carefully concealed truth could topple Louis XIV, king of France, which is exactly what Aramis is plotting to do!

A daring jailbreak, a brilliant masquerade, and a terrifying fight for the throne may make Aramis betray his sacred vow, "All for one, and one for all!"

In this concluding episode of the Three Musketeers saga, the actions of Aramis and the other Musketeers - Athos, Porthos, and the most dashing of them all, D'Artagnan - bring either honor or disgrace...and a horrifying punishment for the final loser in the battle royal.

The Man in the Iron Mask (Signet Classics)

Average customer rating:

Super Reader

The Man in the Iron Mask (Signet Classics)
Alexandre Dumas
Manufacturer: Signet Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0451530136

Book Description

In this sequel to The Three Musketeers, jailbreaks, masquerades, and swordfights pit Aramis against his fellow musketeers and create an incomparable tale of swashbuckling.

Customer Reviews:

Super Reader.......2007-08-07

At times my favorite Dumas. World weary cynicism, mixed with heroism. A band of aging heroes must right a terrible wrong, and deal with upcoming youth at the same time. They have been betrayed and pensioned off by those they have bled and almost died for, and so set out to see what they can do to rectify the situation and the darkness surrounding the throne of France.

Average customer rating:

unreliable
This is how history should be written
A great movie but bad history

The Man in the Iron Mask
Roger Macdonald
Manufacturer: Carroll & Graf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0786716061

Book Description

Alexandre Dumas said that his famous Three Musketeers never existed, but Athos, Aramis and Porthos were flesh and blood. Their supposedly fictional duel with Cardinal Richelieu's guards actually took place in 1640 and Charles d'Artagnan, a teenager on his first day in Paris, fought alongside the Musketeers.

According to Oxford historian Macdonald, several other elements of the tale are also based in fact — the Cardinal's agent, Milady de Winter, really was an English aristocrat, and against all odds, the country boy without influence, d'Artagnan, did succeed in becoming Captain of the King's Musketeers, the only man whom Louis XIV could trust to arrest his over-mighty minister, Fouquet. It was d'Artagnan who escorted Fouquet to the feared Alpine fortress of Pignerol, wherein lived the most mysterious of all prisoners, the Man in the Iron Mask.

Macdonald has spent five years unraveling fact from fiction to reveal the true story of the Musketeers and their link with the Man in the Iron Mask. It is a reality more extraordinary than anything Dumas could devise. Honor and heroism, betrayal and intrigue, are set amidst the lust, jealousy, and deadly poisons that made the Sun King's court a world of glittering paranoia.

Customer Reviews:

unreliable.......2006-10-15

This book is a mass of allegations and assertions and ignores inconvenient facts in favor of sensationalized storytelling based mainly on gossip and cognitive leapfrog. Entertaining, yes, if you love history but enjoy the peculiar experience of having your blood pressure raised by seeing it badly reinterpreted. There are far better and more reliable works on this time period and this subject.

This is how history should be written.......2006-04-13

I simply couldn't put it down. The whole book really gets you inside 17thC France and you can feel the evil that surrounds Louis XIV's Court. It's a complicated story but the author is such a master of his subject, you only have to pull slowly on the thread and the next clinching fact is revealed.

Take Eustache Danger for instance. He has been the last credible solution to the identity of the Iron Mask for some time, but MacDonald quietly demolishes this theory by showing exactly who Danger is: a poisoner working for the French war minister, Louvois, and who eventually commits suicide after Louvois has shut him up in the remote prison called Pignerol to keep him safely out of the way.

Once Danger is eliminated, in every sense, there HAS to be an alternative solution and the author shows how it can only be, incredible though it sounds, the great d'Artagnan. He knows far too much for his own good about Louis's dubious parentage and he is always objecting to some of the murkier practices at Court. His supposed death in 1673 at the siege of Maastricht is shown to be a put-up job and instead he, too, ends up in Pignerol. He is the only solution that really fits the facts. Louvois and the king can't kill him because d'Artagnan's jailer is his former sergeant, Saint-Mars, who owes d'Artagnan his job and has no intention of getting rid of the goose that lays him losts of golden eggs. D'Artagnan has to wear the iron mask to stop Saint-Mars's men, all former musketeers, from finding out and helping him escape.

Astonishingly, MacDonald shows how there were two secret prisoners for several years. The second was former finance minister Fouquet, tormented by Louis like a cat plays with a mouse. Fouquet was promised his freedom but Louis found he had seduced the king's second wife Francois Scarron and instead had him locked up again in secret.

Courtilz, d'Artagnan's first biographer, is by chance locked up in the Bastille at the same time as the Mask and realises who he is.

The book also has fascinating information about the Three Musketeers, how they came to fight the Cardinal's Guards with d'Artagnan's accidental help. Athos is later killed helping d'Artagnan, Aramis gets lucky and marries an heiress, and Porthos lives on to the ripe old age of 95!

The notes are packed with extra facts and are written in a hugely entertaining way, so you almost get two books for the price of one.

A great movie but bad history.......2005-11-28

Roger MacDonald's book as published in the United States is entitled The Man in the Iron Mask. He traces the history of the real D'Artagnan who arrived in Paris in 1640 to enter history. MacDonald shows that not only did D'Artagnan really exist but so did Athos, Porthos, and Aramis. And some of the material in the novel The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas actually happened under different circumstances. MacDonald, despite his claims to be the first researcher to find this, joins a line of authors who have traced this story before.

MacDonald's major difference is that he uses information in the pseudo-memoirs of D'Artagnan to guide his research. These pseudo-memoirs, which Dumas claims as his source for the novel, were actually written by Gatien Courtilz de Sandras and published in 1700 or 27 years after everyone believe D'Artagnan had died. Courtilz de Sandras served in the French army in the 1660s and may even have been a musketeer. In any case, he knew D'Artagnan whose reputation was kingdom-wide.

MacDonald claims, without one shred of evidence, that D'Artagnan did not die from his wounds at the siege of Maastrich in June 1673. Instead his wounded body was taken into custody and his enemies at court and in the musketeers plotted to hide this fact from the king. D'Artagnan, says MacDonald, was really the man in the iron mask. This would make a great movie, even though it is completely false history.

The effort to identify the man in the iron mask has produced more than 1000 articles and books since that unfortunate prisoner excited the interest of Voltaire in the eighteenth century. Yes, Virginia, there was a masked prisoner whose fate inspired so many authors. His mask was not made of iron, but he existed according to some evidence that cannot be discounted. He accompanied Benigne Dauvergne de Saint-Mars in September 1698 when the latter arrived to take his post as governor of the Bastille. The journal of Saint-Mars' second-in-command records his arrival saying that he had been Saint-Mars' prisoner since the latter was at Pignerol but no one was allowed to know his name. The same journal reports that the prisoner who wore a black velvet mask died on 19 November 1703.

Researchers have probed the correspondence between Saint-Mars and his boss, the war minister Louvois, to try to identify this masked prisoner. Books proliferate in French but MacDonald has added his guesstimation to the shorter list of books in English. MacDonald is the first author to identify D'Artagnan as the masked prisoner. Unfortunately, MacDonald surmises without proof, discounts or ignores evidence that is inconvenient to his thesis, and plays on the willful gullibility of his reader. For example, although MacDonald tells us that Saint-Mars had orders to kill the masked prisoner should he talk to anyone or attempt to communicate, he guesses that the former soldier and musketeer Courtilz de Sandras who was imprisoned in the Bastille from 1693 to 1699, probably had conversations with the masked prisoner. These conversations inspired Courtilz to compose his pseudo-memoirs in 1700. The pseudo-memoirs talk about things that happened in D'Artagnan's youth and his years in the musketeers but fail to mention that he has spent 27 years as a prisoner wearing a mask. While Courtilz might have been afraid to mention that fact in print, there is no proof that he ever talked about it to anybody.

Unfortunately, MacDonald conveniently omits the probability that Saint-Mars, who was also a former musketeer and companion of D'Artagnan's, might have spoken with Courtilz de Sandras about things that happened while they were both serving in the French army, i.e., with D'Artagnan. Saint-Mars was known to entertain his prisoners, especially those with connections. The Bastille was a prison that specialized in prisoners from the uppercrust of French society.

MacDonald spurns using footnotes saying that footnoting is an art that discounts the value of the evidence. Instead, he has a whole chapter discussing the general sources he used in each chapter of the book. This is a convenient way to prevent anyone from following his research.

The best book on this subject is in French by Jean-Christian Petitfils entitled Le Masque de fer. The best book in English is by John Noone entitled The Man Behind the Iron Mask. I hesitate to mention good books in a review of such a shoddy piece of work as MacDonald's. I gave him two stars because it was a fun read, but I got bored with him at the end because he was piling one guess on top of another with little to prove anything. He even goes so far as to say that the masked prisoner did not die on 19 November 1703 as so many believe but lived on until 1711. Again, he provides no proof for any of this.

Who was the Man in the Iron Mask? And Other Historical Mysteries (Penquin Classic History)

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Accurate or Not? Don't Know, But Still an Interesting Book
Proven to be historically inaccurate!

Who was the Man in the Iron Mask? And Other Historical Mysteries (Penquin Classic History)
Hugh Ross Williamson
Manufacturer: Penguin Classics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Book Description

Who was Elizabeth I's true father? Did Buckingham poison James I? And who was the Man in the Iron Mask?

These and a host of other tantalizing age-old mysteries that have caused speculation and scandal through the centuries are explored in this intriguing book. Using techniques of modern detection, Hugh Ross Williamson re-evaluates the evidence, examines character and motive, and uses the known facts of the cases to come up with solutions both intriguing and controversial. Shattering myths and propaganda, he exposes a grisly array of murder, lies, intrigue, and conspiracies. Discover the political frame-up surrounding the Gunpowder Plot, the secret identity of Charles I's executioner, Elizabeth I's involvement in the murder of her lover's wife, and much more.

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Accurate or Not? Don't Know, But Still an Interesting Book.......2003-11-08

[Warning] This penguin reprint book has been originally published as "Historical Enigmas" in 1974, and before that, partly as "Historical Whodunits" (1955) and "Enigmas of History" (1957). Beware before buying it.

The new title "Who Was the Man in the Iron Mask" is misleading, so let me correct it. The writer Hugh Ross Williamson, prolific novelist and historian (and many others), has written this interesting book about English history, in which he explores the scandals and gossips such as the speculated identity of the father of Elizabeth I, or the murderers of the princes in the Tower. So, the book is mainly about the history of England, not France.

The contents are:
1.History and the Writer
2.The Death of William Rufus
3.The Princes in the Tower
4.The Identity of Perkin Warbeck
5.The Parentage of Queen Elizabeth I
6.The Murder of Amy Robsart
7.Holyrood and Kirk o'Field
8.The Gowrie Conspiracy
9.The Gunpowder Plot
10.The Murder of Sir Thomas Overbury
11.The Poisoning of King James I
12.The Assassination of Colonel Rainsborough
13.The Executioner of King Charles I
14.The Campden Wonder
15.The Mystery of James de la Cloche
16.The Man in the Iron Mask
17.The Murder of Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey
18.The Innocence of Sir John Fenwick
19.The Appin Murder
20.The Diamond Necklace
21.The Wives of King George IV

(Chap.1 is a rather preachy introduction you can skip over. Chap. 3 is indirectly about Richard III; Chap.16 is of course about the mysterious man in Dumas' famous novel (or DiCaprio's movie), and the proposed theory is certainly unique. Chap.19 concerns partly RL Stevenson's classic novel "Kidnapped"; and Chap.20 deals with the interesting case about the necklace which accelerated the downfall of Marie Antoinette, recently made into a picture starring Hilary Swank.)

And don't be wrong here. Williamson postulates, but never insists. Like many books on the truths of, say, Jack the Ripper, he shows many intriuging aspects of many well-known episodes in English history, but some people, especially academic historians, would find the book too clever. To his credit, Williamson, who seems to heartily dislike "textbook history" and "historical propagandas," does not offer any conclusive theories about these matters. He just suggests, but to some, too strongly.

It is true, however, that there were scandals and rumors surrounding these cases above, and people are still intrigued by the enigmas in history. And like the tantalizing questions such as "Who shot down the Red Baron?" or "What ever happened to the still missing author of "The Devil's Dictionary," the answers will never be revealed. This conclusion, Hugh Ross Williamson is, and all of us are, ready to accept.

Some complaints about this reprint. As there is no introduction attached to the text, we don't know whether or not new information has been unearthed since the original publication of the book. We need the opinions from the thrid party, hopefully from historians, but we are left alone to judge the authenticity of the book. (And this complaint goes to this Penguin Classic History series in general.)

I know I cannot use the book in history class in school, but still I find it very interesting. But I also know that I am no historian. Read it as a detective's dossier.

Proven to be historically inaccurate!.......2003-10-29

I was thrilled to purchase this book, only to find-straight away-inaccuracies in its claim of Tudor history. Queen Elizabeth I was not bald, but rather wore wigs and many women shaved their heads, to give the appearance of a high forehead, a sign of high intelligence during this period. The claim that Smeaton was Elizabeth's real father is also a falsity. While this may have been titillating during the past 20 years, it is now just disappointing.

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Iron Masks and Templars

The Masked Man
P. C. Doherty
Manufacturer: St Martins Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0312064098

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Iron Masks and Templars.......2004-05-15

This is a novel of ideas, an attempt to unveil the man in the iron mask by means of fiction. The story is told in the first person by a fictional Englishman named Ralph Croft who by a series of incidents ends up in the Bastille sentenced to death shortly after the death of Louis XIV, i.e, after 1715. Instead of being executed, however, he is given a chance to earn a pardon by helping the Regent, Louis XIV's nephew who governed France in the name of the child-king Louis XV, who wants to know the identity of the man in the iron mask.

Croft is assisted by two men, Captain Estivet and a man named Maurepas who we discover has links to a secret organization descended from the Knights Templar that plots to overthrow the French monarchy. Croft has been selected for this task because he is an expert forger and can identify forged documents. He also has contacts in the Paris underworld.

Historical note: Rumors that a prisoner was being held who wore a mask may have begun circulating as early as 1687 in France. The first certifiable document we have dates from October 1711 when the Regent's mother writes two letters to her cousin about these rumors saying that the prisoner had died shortly before and that he was an English milord. This rumor gained a life of its own with all manner of speculation as to the identity of the prisoner. Was he the king's twin brother? Half-brother? A close relative? Was he some other wellknown personality? Was he someone who looked like the king? Or someone who had doublecrossed Louis XIV in some unforgivable way?

Doherty packs as many of the theories as he can in a novel of less than 180 pages. I'll let the reader discover which theory Croft comes to believe. Doherty introduces the novel by stating that he has decoded a love letter that might reveal the truth about this prisoner's identity and he has included his solution in the novel.

The best non-fiction account in English in John Noone's The Man Behind the Iron Mask. The best book of all is Jean-Christian Petitfils' Le Masque de fer. Both men agree on the identity of this mysterious prisoner and they do not agree with Doherty. Petitfils includes a list of all the theories of the identity of this person and where they have appeared in books and literature over the last 300 years. Doherty has picked a theory that has been around for a long time.

This book includes sword fights, meetings with powerful criminal lords, meetings with powerful lords and officials, and a meeting of the mysterious Templar organization. Shades of the Da Vinci code, except that this powerful organization does not call itself the Priory of Sion.

The Man in the Iron Mask (Saddleback Classics)
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The Man in the Iron Mask (Saddleback Classics)

Manufacturer: Saddleback Educational Publishing, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Classics by Age | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1562545280

Man in the Iron Mask: Level 3
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Man in the Iron Mask: Level 3
Alexandre Dumas
Manufacturer: Edcon Pub Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Dumas, Alexandre | ( D ) | Authors, A-Z | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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