Alexandre Dumas was a French playwright, historian and prolific novelist, penning a string of successful books including The Three Musketeers (1844), The Count of Monte Cristo (1845), and Twenty Years After(1845). His novels have been translated into a hundred different languages and inspired over two hundred films. In his day Dumas was as famous for his financial irresponsibility and flamboyant lifestyle as for his writing. Dumas died in 1870.