Edmond Dantès is thrown from greatest happiness into the deepest abyss, when he becomes the victim of a conspiracy which brings him in the island prison of Château d'If. There he meets the old clergyman and fellow prisoner Abbé Faria, who becomes his teacher and reveals him the hiding place of an alleged treasure. Finally, after fourteen years Dantès succeeds in escaping from the prison island by luck and determination. A few months later, a mysterious Count of incredible wealth appears in French society, which quickly becomes the center of social attention. Behind his opaque façade, however, he pursues only one goal: to practice retribution to the guilty, who once brought Edmond Dantès in prison. He is the hand of God who has come to call the guilty for account ... —- The famous French writer Alexandre Dumas (the Elder) published "The Count of Monte Christo" between 1844 and 1846 as a continuation novel in the journal "Le Journal des débats". The story immediately gained an enormous success and is still today one of the most famous works of French literature, together with "The Three Musketeers", (also by Dumas) or "Le Miserábles" and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" by Victor Hugo. The story of the young, ambitious and happily engaged naval officer Edmond Dantès, who falls victim to a conspiracy, dates from the time after the French Revolution in the years 1814 to 1838, that is, during a period of immense changes in France. Napoleon's power has passed, the restoration under the kings of Louis XVIII. and Karl X. has taken place, and by the Revolution of 1830 the „citizen king" Louis-Philippe I is enthroned. The adventure classic is presented here in a complete, unabridged and annotated edition. The eBook corresponds to about 1100 book pages.