Edmond Dantes is confined to the gloomy fortress of If because he was falsely accused of committing a crime for which he was not responsible. There, he learns of a great hoard of treasure hidden on the Isle of Monte Cristo, and he becomes determined not only to escape but also to unearth the treasure and use it to plot the destruction of the three men who are responsible for his incarceration. He learns of the treasure while he is imprisoned on the island. In the 1840s, when it was first published in serial form, Alexandre Dumas’s epic story of suffering and retribution, which was inspired by a real-life case of wrongful imprisonment, was an enormous popular success.
The lively English translation that Robin Buss did is both complete and unabridged, and it stays true to the style of the original work by Dumas. This edition consists of an introduction, notes explaining the text, and recommendations for additional reading.
Over the course of more than seventy years, Penguin has maintained its position as the preeminent publisher of works of canonical literature in the global English-speaking market. Penguin Classics has more than 1,700 titles and represents a global bookshelf of the most important and influential works from all time periods, literary traditions, academic fields, and other categories. Readers have faith that the series will provide authoritative texts that have been augmented by introductions and notes written by renowned academics and contemporary authors, in addition to translations that have been brought up to date by translators who have won awards.
