Alexandre Dumas
6) The Borgias
10) Vingt ans après
Celebrated as one of the masters of historical fiction, Alexandre Dumas, pere wrote such masterworks as The Count of Monte Cristo and The Three Musketeers. His series Celebrated Crimes delved into eight historical capers, transgressions, and scandals. This life of Joan of Naples, the 14th century European monarch whose reign and romances were both famously tumultuous, was one of the most popular volumes of the series.
16) La Reine Margot
Nobody has ever detailed history's most ruthless rulers and tyrants with as much flair and passion as French writer Alexandre Dumas. This gripping exposition of the Borgias, the Italian clan that earned notoriety as one of the world's most power-hungry and corrupt families, is a pulse-pounding read that fans of the true crime genre will find hard to put down.
One of the most acclaimed writers of historical fiction turns his focus to the French Revolution. Taking the Bastile is one in a series of novels in which Dumas works his unique magic in retelling one of the most volatile periods of social upheaval in European history, weaving the tale of plucky orphan Pitou with the political events that were unfolding on a grand scale.