Roger Macdonald (1)

Well researched, well noted, and extremely well written. I found the author's conculsions to be remarkable. Any fan of Dumas, The Three Muskeeters, 17th France, and Louis XIV will be thoroughly entertained.

A very fascinating and enjoyable journey into 17th & 18th Century France during the reigns of Louis XIII and his son, Louis XIV, the Sun King.

It is the time of the dominance of Cardinal Richelieu and his successor, Mazarin, and of the royal mistresses; of the intrigues and turmoils of France in the centuries preceding the Revolution; the plotting and power struggles of the French courtiers for ascendancy; of diplomats and spies; of the Musketeers.

MacDonald introduces us to three Musketeers show more in particular who were far ffrom being "bastards" of the imagination of Alexandre Dumas, writing more than two centuries after events).

And so MacDonald has his candidate for the famous "Mask" and summarily takes the reader through events from the first appearance of the mask leading up to his final moments of freedom before his decades of incarceration. MacDonald using original documents as he outlines his case for the Mask whilst assessing and disproving the case for other nominees, including Nicholas Fouquet and the Comte de Lauzan.

MacDonald declares that the identity of the Mask will not be revealed even if the impudent reader fast tracks to the back sections of the book outline the cast of characters, the chronology of events, and the chapter notes. However, this reader cottoned on to the identity of the mask fairly early in the piece.

This tome has a place on the shelf of any French History enthusiast or those who love a good mystery. For in this tome we discover a plausible candidate for the Mask and the reasons for his incarceration.

Another fascinating tome to add to my own personal library.

See my review here: http://melisendeslibrary.blogspot.com.au/2015/01/the-man-in-iron-mask.html show less