The Red Sphinx

A Sequel to The Three Musketeers

Alexandre Dumas

For the first time in English in over a century, a new translation of the forgotten sequel to Dumas’s The Three Musketeers, continuing the dramatic tale of Cardinal Richelieu and his implacable enemies.

In 1844, Alexandre Dumas published The Three Musketeers, a novel so famous and still so popular today that it scarcely needs introduction. Shortly thereafter he wrote a sequel, Twenty Years After, that resumed the adventures of his swashbuckling heroes.

Later, toward the end of his career, Dumas wrote The Red Sphinx, another direct sequel to The Three Musketeers that begins, not twenty years later, but a mere twenty days afterward. The Red Sphinx picks up right where the The Three Musketeers left off, continuing the stories of Cardinal Richelieu, Queen Anne, and King Louis XIII—and introducing a charming new hero, the Comte de Moret, a real historical figure from the period. A young cavalier newly arrived in Paris, Moret is an illegitimate son of the former king, and thus half-brother to King Louis. The French Court seethes with intrigue as king, queen, and cardinal all vie for power, and young Moret soon finds himself up to his handsome neck in conspiracy, danger—and passionate romance!

Dumas wrote seventy-five chapters of The Red Sphinx, all for serial publication, but he never quite finished it, and so the novel languished for almost a century before its first book publication in France in 1946. While Dumas never completed the book, he had earlier written a separate novella, The Dove, that recounted the final adventures of Moret and Cardinal Richelieu.

Now for the first time, in one cohesive narrative, The Red Sphinx and The Dove make a complete and satisfying storyline—a rip-roaring novel of historical adventure, heretofore unknown to English-language readers, by the great Alexandre Dumas, king of the swashbucklers.

One of the most famous French writers of the nineteenth century, Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870) is best remembered for his novels The Three Musketeers, The Count of Monte Cristo, and The Man in the Iron Mask. These books have sold millions of copies worldwide.

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Endorsements & Reviews

"Newly translated, a sequel to The Three Musketeers is as fresh as ever. In Lawrence Ellsworth’s excellent, compulsively readable translation, The Red Sphinx is just the book to see you through the January doldrums. And maybe those of February, too." Michael Dirda, The Washington Post

"The Red Sphinx sparkles and shines in a new translation. Races along with pointed humor and broad quips. Fun permeates this big book. The rest of 2017's fiction will have to look sharp: An old master has just set the bar very, very high." Christian Science Monitor

"Fans of The Three Musketeers can rejoice in the 800-page English translation of this largely forgotten sequel." Newsday

"A royal treat for fans of historical fiction. I am confident that librarians and English literature teachers around the world are leaping for joy at the publication of The Red Sphinx, and I join them in this excitement." Bookreporter

"Dumas’s trademark gifts at crafting engaging historical romances are amply in evidence in this lengthy yet fast-paced volume. Ellsworth’s translation captures a complete narrative. A very entertaining epic." Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"There is swash and buckle aplenty, and even plumage if that’s what does it for you. And it is great fun." The Spectator

"The Red Sphinx is wonderful. There’s plot and counter-plot, duels, passion, murder, romance, disguises, poets and assassins. Readable and compelling." Historical Novels Review

"As far as I can tell, Lawrence Ellsworth is responsible for one of the biggest literary projects happening right now in the English language. Ellsworth is working on a massive and daunting scale. He’s translating the entirety of Alexandre Dumas’s stories of The Three Musketeers (1844), all 1.5 million words of it. The third volume, Twenty Years After, appeared late last year. In Ellsworth’s hands, these stories of swashbuckling and all-for-one-and-one-for-all friendship feel new again. The Three Musketeers is an enormously entertaining tale for the ages." The Brooklyn Rail [Praise for Lawrence Ellsworth’s translations of Dumas's Musketeers series]

"The Red Sphinx is a vivid and beautifully-crafted story dense with colorful characters and an irresistible charm." Tony Cliff, author of the 'New York Times' bestselling “Delilah Dirk” graphic novels