The three musketeers, much later. Uncompelling.

Good stuff, but Dumas tries a bit too hard; the story is a bit forced, or contrived, and this permeates the writing.

A really wonderful item from the father of the modern historical novel. Adventure, romance, treachery, intelligence, swashbuckling, the works. A good choice for people to find out if they care a whit for historical novels, unless you're a confirmed Asiaphile; in that case, consider Yoshikawa's Musashi or Clavell.

If you see the movie, my clear choice is the pair with Michael York, Oliver Reed, Raquel Welch, Charlton Heston, et al, from the '70s. It takes both movies to cover this book.