The Count of Monte Cristo

With an Introduction and Notes by Keith Wren, University of Kent at Canterbury.

The story of Edmund Dantes, self-styled Count of Monte Cristo, is told with consummate skill. The victim of a miscarriage of justice, Dantes is fired by a desire for retribution and empowered by a stroke of providence. In his campaign of vengeance, he becomes an anonymous agent of fate.

The sensational narrative of intrigue, betrayal, escape, and triumphant revenge moves at a cracking pace. Dumas' novel presents a powerful conflict between good and evil embodied in an epic saga of rich diversity that is complicated by the hero's ultimate discomfort with the hubristic implication of his own actions.

Our edition is based on the most popular and enduring translation first published by Chapman and Hall in 1846. The name of the translator was never revealed.

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Published Nov 5, 1997

928 pages

Average rating: 8.68

394 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

wheretheheckismyjello
Nov 18, 2025
10/10 stars
I like it because it was about revenge and he did his revenge, but then...like...the lesson is revenge isn't everything and he wasn't even happy about it in the end, also an innocent child died???? SMH. I guess at least he helped those two lovebirds get together and he had his hot slave to keep him company in the end. Regardless, Dumas does it again. Bro can't miss. Best book ever, I read it every year.
Winston
Jun 07, 2026
8/10 stars
8.5. It's about a dude who gets wrongfully criminalized and forgotten. He finds a way to come back and becomes a gazillionaire and goes on a vengeance spree to those who wronged him. It's a long book, but I had a lot of fun reading it and by the end of it, I was left wishing for more. Really satisfying read. This is on a lot of TBR lists, but I'd put this on the TBRR list - To Be Re-Read list
Micahla
Apr 29, 2026
A great redemption story. This is my favorite book of all time.
Karla
Apr 10, 2026
10/10 stars
this is my favorite book in the world. Honestly I always hear people recommend classic books but I’m used to reading all these new books than I tend to start these older books with a mindset of “I’m gonna be so bored.” And the language, the lingo, the specific way of writing is much different than anything I’ve read recently but the story was phenomenal.
I do want to say, there’s times I had to reread certain parts cause I got lost, or even google aspects of the story that lost me which made me feel like I was dumb but it’s hard to comprehend certain things from a book written in the 1800’s!! So no shame if you start it and get a little lost and have to look things up.

It’s a story about love, revenge, passion, hope, grief. A looooooong game of chess or a puzzle that gets put together slowly. When everything finally clicks at the end, you get such satisfaction, it was just beautiful.
Cynthia M.
Mar 28, 2026
10/10 stars
The Count of Monte Cristo is not just a great book; it's a total reading experience. It's adventure, melodrama, psychological study, philosophical novel, and legal thriller all in one volume. Having seen all the versions—from the 1934 classic with Robert Donat to the more recent ones with Gérard Depardieu or Jim Caviezel—confirms one truth: no film can contain the book. The films are forced to cut essential characters (Haydée, Caderousse, Bertuccio), simplify the machinations, and, above all, compress the slow, methodical preparation that is the very essence of the reading pleasure. Cinema can capture the atmosphere, setting, and emotion of some key moments, but the true enjoyment lies in immersing yourself for weeks in Dumas's intricate world, savoring every detail of the plan.

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