Jacques Le Clercq

"A swashbuckling epic of chivalry, honor, and derring-do, it is set in France during the 1620s and richly populated with romantic heroes, unattainable heroines, kings, queens, cavaliers, and criminals in a whirl of adventure, espionage, conspiracy, murder, vengeance, love, scandal, and suspense. Dumas transforms major and minor historical figures into larger-than-life characters: the brave d'Artagnan, an impetuous young man in pursuit of glory; the...

Alongside Baudelaire, Mallarmé, and Rimbaud, with whom he had a stormy relationship, Paul Verlaine is one of the most influential poets of the fin de siècle. He was one of the greatest representatives of the Decadent movement that began in the 1870s, and a leader of the Symbolists. His stylistic innovations brought a new musicality to French poetry, it was he who paved the way for modern poetry with its experiments in free verse and new techniques....