At the beginning of the year 1815, Louis XVIII had barely ascended to the throne when the shadow of Napoleon, exiled on the island of Elba, reappeared and threatened the new regime, considered illegitimate and unpopular. In Marseille, young Edmond Dantès, a sailor aboard the ship Le Pharaon, arrives to marry his beautiful Catalan fiancée, Mercédès. In this city torn apart by discord and political turmoil, where the announcement of the Emperor's imminent return ignites both authorities and the people, Dantès is arrested as a Bonapartist conspirator and imprisoned in the Château d'If off the coast of Marseille. Thus begins a long captivity marked by solitude and despair, but Dantès has ample time to carefully plan his revenge, which, though delayed and protracted, will be formidable nonetheless. His adventure - spanning over twenty years - takes the reader from the Mediterranean of smugglers, to the Tuscan islands, the catacombs of Rome, and the Parisian salons of the July Monarchy, where Dantès, now the mysterious Count of Monte-Cristo, prepares to exact his reprisals…

Published in serial form between 1844 and 1846, Le Comte de Monte-Cristo has become Alexandre Dumas's (1802-1870) most famous work, continuing to influence literature and cinema through its style and themes. Undoubtedly, it stands as the quintessential French adventure novel, built upon a thrilling plot of ruthless vengeance, as relentless as it is merciless. A masterpiece of its genre and a profound reflection on love, hope, justice, and forgiveness.