The Great Massacre

It was the 18th of August, 1572, the night of the marriage of Marguerite de Valois and Henri de Navarre; the clock of Saint Germain-l'Auxerrois has struck midnight, the crowd is surging about the streets adjacent to the brilliantly-lighted Louvre, and with the crowd Dumas imagines himself moving. To Dumas the illusion is perfect, and when he takes his pen he immediately communicates it to the reader. The opening chapters are quickly written, and as quickly is the reader placed in possession of all the history he need know to enjoy the breathless story that follows.