Audiobooks by Alexandre Dumas père

Alexandre Dumas père (Author), Robert Bethune (Narrator)

Audiobook

Celebrated Crimes, Book 16: The Marquise de Brinvilliers

To paraphrase the note from the translator, The Celebrated Crimes of Alexandre Dumas père was not written for children. The novelist has spared no language—has minced no words—to describe violent scenes of violent times. In this, the sixteenth of the series, Dumas, the novelist-historian, brings his story-telling skills to a subject no less than infamous at the time and which still holds a fascination for us: Marie-Madeleine-Marguerite d'Aubray, Marquise de Brinvilliers. The Marquise was tried, convicted, and executed for poisoning her father and two of her brothers. It appears that she learned the art of the poisoner from her lover, Godin de Sainte-Croix. She also targeted, but did not kill, her sister, a Carmelite nun. Her case launched what is known in French history as the Affair of the Poisons, a long-running judicial scandal which led to the execution or imprisonment of dozens of people, many of the highest rank in French society, including prominent members of the court of Louis XIV. Although Duma's book on Brinvilliers has been dismissed as mere historical fiction, in reality it is solidly based on the documents of the time and on prior historical treatments of the case. Shocking as it is to suppose, this beautiful and cultured Frenchwoman was indeed a formidable murderess. Of course, Dumas, the dramatist and novelist, cannot help embellishing the work of Dumas, the historian. It becomes clear that his true interest lies not in the events, but in the character of Brinvilliers herself, as she confronts the rapidly approaching fact of her own torture and execution. Approximately half the book is devoted to the conversations between the Marquise and Edmond Pirot, a theologian of the Sorbonne, who acted as her chaplain and confessor during the last days of her life. The give-and-take between them is an interesting dramatization of the workings of conscience and remorse. Dumas may have collaborated on this, as he frequently did in his works, with other writers. Nevertheless, it is clearly Dumas who has the final say on this work, as with all the other works in this series. Enjoy! A Freshwater Seas production.

Alexandre Dumas père (Author), Robert Bethune (Narrator)

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Celebrated Crimes 15: Murat

To paraphrase the note from the translator, The Celebrated Crimes of Alexandre Dumas père was not written for children. The novelist has spared no language—has minced no words—to describe violent scenes of violent times. In this, the fifteenth of the series, Dumas, the novelist-historian, brings his story-telling skills to a subject famous at the time, but less so now: Joachim Murat, the brother-in-law of Napoleon Bonapart, who established him as King Joachim the First of Naples. Joachim is nothing if not an attractive, indeed romantic, hero. A man of extraordinary courage, instrumental in at least three of Napoleon's greatest victories; a man loyal to a fault to his friends, tender and loving to his wife and family, yet also a man of boundless ambition. His courage drove him to greatness; his ambition brought about his fall. Dumas has one focus throughout this series: great crimes. As we progress through this story, we begin to wonder: where's the crime? We have derring-do, we have intrigue, we have hairbreadth escapes, we have great dangers, both from the forces of nature and from the hands of man, but we have no crime. That is, until we reach the very end, and then we have a monstrous act indeed, done by the orders of the highest of royalty. Of course, Dumas, the dramatist and novelist, cannot help embellishing the work of Dumas, the historian. He gives us words and actions that cannot possibly be part of the historical record from scenes that are as effectively histrionic as they are undocumented. However, all his melodrama is well based on his history, and he certainly makes a wonderful tale out of his materials. Dumas may have collaborated on this, as he frequently did in his works, with other writers. Nevertheless, it is clearly Dumas who has the final say on this work, as with all the other works in this series. Enjoy!

Alexandre Dumas père (Author), Robert Bethune (Narrator)

Audiobook

Celebrated Crimes 14: The Countess of Saint-Geran

To paraphrase the note from the translator, The Celebrated Crimes of Alexandre Dumas père was not written for children. The novelist has spared no language—has minced no words—to describe violent scenes of violent times. In this, the fourteenth of the series, Dumas, the novelist-historian, brings his story-telling skills to a famous subject: the background of one of the most famouse of French lawsuits, that centering around the secret abduction of Bernard de la Guiche, later Count of Saint-Geran, from the child-bed of his mother Suzanne de Longaunay, by the Marquis de Saint-Maixant--a notorious womanizer, schemer, and probably murderer. Dumas gives us the whole story, basing his tale on well-established historical sources, from the time when the Marquis first insinuated himself into the family to the outcome of the lawsuit contesting Bernard's identity and legitimacy as the heir of the La Guiche fortune. It is a story of remarkable perfidy, cruelt and betrayal of trust. Of course, Dumas, the dramatist and novelist, cannot help embellishing the work of Dumas, the historian. He gives us words and actions that cannot possibly be part of the historical record from scenes that are as effectively histrionic as they are undocumented. However, all his melodrama is well based on his history, and he certainly makes a wonderful tale out of his materials. Dumas may have collaborated on this, as he frequently did in his works, with other writers. Nevertheless, it is clearly Dumas who has the final say on this work, as with all the other works in this series. Enjoy! A Freshwater Seas production.

Alexandre Dumas père (Author), Robert Bethune (Narrator)

Audiobook

Celebrated Crimes 13: Ali Pasha

To paraphrase the note from the translator, The Celebrated Crimes of Alexandre Dumas père was not written for children. The novelist has spared no language—has minced no words—to describe violent scenes of violent times. In this, the thirteenth of the series, Dumas, the novelist-historian, finds ample scope for his favorite approach. His subject is a well-documented historical figure: Ali Tepelini, most often known as Ali Pasha, and known even in his own day as The Lion of Tepelen. Dumas presents us with an extraordinary character, a man of tremendous courage, unstoppable tenacity, matchless duplicity, extreme debauchery, disgusting cruelty, and amazing ingenuity. Ali Pasha rose from a homeless teenage brigand robbing travelers on the roads of his native Albania to one of the most powerful and wealthy viziers of the Ottoman empire, the sole absolute ruler of much of what is now Greece, Albania, and other parts of the Balkans. Although he never intended to do so, he helped trigger the revolt that freed Greece from Turkish rule, a process that put the Ottoman Empire on the road to its final collapse. Ali traces his life from his earliest days throughout his career of crime until his violent death and its aftermath. Of course, Dumas, the dramatist and novelist, cannot help embellishing the work of Dumas, the historian. He gives us words and actions that cannot possibly be part of the historical record from scenes that are as effectively histrionic as they are undocumented. However, all his melodrama is well based on his history, and he certainly makes a wonderful tale out of his materials. Dumas may have collaborated on this, as he frequently did in his works, with other writers. Nevertheless, it is clearly Dumas who has the final say on this work, as with all the other works in this series. Enjoy! A Freshwater Seas production.

Alexandre Dumas père (Author), Robert Bethune (Narrator)

Audiobook

Celebrated Crimes 12: Martin Guerre

To paraphrase the note from the translator, The Celebrated Crimes of Alexandre Dumas père was not written for children. The novelist has spared no language—has minced no words—to describe violent scenes of violent times. In this, the twelfth of the series, Dumas, the novelist-historian, is back in full force. His subject is a well-documented historical fact: that a man named Arnaud du Thil was able to pass, for two years, as Martin Guerre, deceiving the fellow-villages, neighbors, friends, family and even the wife of Martin Guerre with equal success, even to the point of becoming the father of two children by Martin Guerre's wife. The uncanny resemblance between the two men and the amazing sang-froid of the imposter created as situation that has fascinated historians, playwrights, novelists and moviemakers for well over four hundred years. Of course, Dumas, the dramatist and novelist, cannot help embellishing the work of Dumas, the historian. He gives us words and actions that cannot possibly be part of the historical record from scenes that are as effectively histrionic as they are undocumented. However, all his melodrama is well based on his history, and he certainly makes a wonderful tale out of his materials. Dumas collaborated on this, as he frequently did in his works, with Fournier, who worked with him on several of his dramas as well. Nevertheless, it is clearly Dumas who has the final say on this work, as with all the other works in this series. Enjoy! A Freshwater Seas production.

Alexandre Dumas père (Author), Robert Bethune (Narrator)

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Celebrated Crimes 10: Joan of Naples

Alexandre Dumas père (Author), Robert Bethune (Narrator)

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Celebrated Crimes 11: The Man in the Iron Mask

Alexandre Dumas père (Author), Robert Bethune (Narrator)

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Celebrated Crimes 9: La Constantin

Alexandre Dumas père (Author), Robert Bethune (Narrator)

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Celebrated Crimes 8: Antonin Derues

To paraphrase the note from the translator, The Celebrated Crimes of Alexandre Dumas père was not written for children. The novelist has spared no language—has minced no words—to describe violent scenes of violent times. In this, the eighth of the series, Dumas explores the depths of a soul, that of Antonin Derues, a man capable of the most amazing hypocrisy, perfidy, and cruelty. He was what we would know today as an extreme sociopath, a man willing to lie, cheat, steal and kill out of overwhelming avarice, with little or not compassion for his victims, or even understanding of what he forced upon them. The place is Paris; the time is just before the Revolution. Dumas has no love for his subject; in several passages he lashes out at him with downright fury, and everywhere spares no pains to show us the worst of him. As is typical of his approach, he bases his story on the facts of the case, but does not hesitate to supply thoughts, words, and actions of his characters out of his imagination, in circumstances where no record of them can possibly exist. Although he lays no stress upon it, his story of the hideous carrier of this infamous criminal also indicts the society of the time; a society in which a man who created a thorough appearance of the forms of religious feeling diverted all attention from his true nature--as shown by his actions. If ever there was a story in which we are happy to see the bad guy get his comeuppance, it is certainly this one. Enjoy! A Freshwater Seas production.

Alexandre Dumas père (Author), Robert Bethune (Narrator)

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Celebrated Crimes 7: Nisida

To paraphrase the note from the translator, The Celebrated Crimes of Alexandre Dumas père was not written for children. The novelist has spared no language—has minced no words—to describe violent scenes of violent times. However, in this, the seventh of the series, Dumas turns away from the bitter hatreds and bloody cruelty of the preceding stories. He lets the novelist take over from the historian, giving free rein to his storytelling instincts. The story of Nisida is worthy of an Italian opera in the great romantic tradition, and indeed Donizetti attempted it, but without success. It is the story of an attempt by a womanizing nobleman to seduce and ruin the daughter of a poor but admirable fisherman, an attempt that ends in his death at the hands of her brother, who is then sentenced to die and is executed, but not by the hands of the law. The story is told in lush and melodramatic style, tending in places to comedy. It is as if Dumas just had to give himself a break after the harsh, tense history of the preceding titles in the series, and turned his gift for melodrama and high coloring loose with a passion. Dumas does claim that the story is based on the records of an actual case. If so, the case is well buried, or Dumas changed too many names and details to permit us to track it down with certainty. Enjoy! A Freshwater Seas production.

Alexandre Dumas père (Author), Robert Bethune (Narrator)

Audiobook

Celebrated Crimes 6: Urbain Grandier

To paraphrase the note from the translator, The Celebrated Crimes of Alexandre Dumas père was not written for children. The novelist has spared no language—has minced no words—to describe violent scenes of violent times. In this, the sixth of the series, Dumas tells the story of Urbain Grandier, a Catholic priest, little known to the English-speaking world, but famous among French speakers; he was the target of a religous and political conspiracy that began among his personal and political enemies in the town of Loudon and ended at the highest levels of political and religious power in the kingdom of France, with the direct involvement of Cardinal Richelieu and possibly of the king himself. Grandier was handsome; Grandier was magnetic; Grandier was highly attractive to women. He was also arrogant, vindictive, and bitterly exacting of every jot and tittle of his rights. These qualities ran him foul of the religious and political bigwigs of the small, provincial town of Loudon. He made many enemies; they made up their minds to kill the man, and kill him they did. They plotted to create the appearance of witchcraft on the loose by arranging for what would look like demonic possession among the nuns of the Ursuline convent at Loudon, so that they could pin a charge of witchcraft on Grandier. However, once they turned their wild horses loose, they had no choice but to ride them; what began as a personal vendetta turned into a devil's nightmare of a lurid witchhunt and trial. Though Dumas clearly takes Grandier's part, he is quite objective about how Grandier, faced with a noose strung up by his enemies, could not restrain himself from putting his head into it and grinning. Dumas shows clearly how his enemies went to work with a will to do what has necessary from that point. In this volume, he is less then novelist than the historian, but he brings all the figures involved fully to life. He leaves us shaking our heads at the depths of murderous passion and barbarous cruelty hidden under the mask of religious fervor. Enjoy! A Freshwater Seas production.

Alexandre Dumas père (Author), Robert Bethune (Narrator)

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