Twenty Years After is a novel by Alexandre Dumas, first serialized from January to August 1845. A book by The d'Artagnan Romances, is a sequel to The Three Musketeers (1844) and precedes the 1847– 1850 novel The Viscount of Bragelonne (which includes the subplot The Man in the Iron Mask). The novel follows the events in France during the Fronde, during the childhood reign of Louis XIV and in England towards the end of the English Civil War, up to the victory of Oliver Cromwell and the execution of King Charles I. Through the words of the main characters, especially Athos, Dumas sided with the monarchy in general, or at least the text often praises the idea of benevolent royalty. His musketeers are valiant and righteous in their efforts to protect the young Louis XIV and the doomed Charles I from their attackers.
