Les Trois Dumas

Three generations of the internationally notorious Dumas family (General Thomas Dumas, Alexandre Dumas pre, and Alexandre Dumas fils) appear in this swashbuckling tale—abundant with battles, sword fights, mysterious strangers and romantic escapades. Thomas Dumas, the son of a French aristocrat and a black servant woman, nevertheless became one of Napoleon's most prized generals and was instrumental in the emperor's early successes in Austria and Italy. Thomas was later falsely denounced by Napoleon as a turncoat; consequently, he died in disgrace, a penniless and broken man. Many years later, Alexandre, the general's son and author of The Three Musketeers, is living a life as daring and full of intrigue as the characters in his plays and novels. Even while Alexandre indulges in perfectly scandalous behavior, he works to keep his father's good name alive. His own son, Alexandre fils, (author of La Dame aux Camélias) struggles to come to terms with his father's apparent immoral lifestyle, his own racial heritage and the rumors about his grandfather's defection. Alexandre fils' struggle is redoubled when a mysterious man defames his father's literary integrity and casts doubts upon his African heritage. Alexandre pre, in a bid to satisfy his son's honor, challenges the mysterious slanderer to a duel at a masquerade ball; there, three generations of the Dumas family (one of whom is long dead) meet and the true identities of all are revealed.