Name: The Black Tulip
Rating: 3.694444444444445 (18 reviews)
ISBN: 9781775450474

Alexandre Dumas

Craving some first-rate historical fiction? Slip into this tale of intrigue and romance from Alexandre Dumas (pere), who is regarded by critics as one of the masters of the genre. In The Black Tulip, turmoil befalls the Dutch aristocracy and the nation struggles to regain its international standing. An unusual horticulture prize is devised as a way to channel the country's attention toward something positive, and an unlikely romance blossoms as a result.

The Black Tulip

After the conviction of two prominent politicians for sedition, Dumas’s story focuses on the trial of an accused collaborator: one Cornelius van Baerle, whose only wish is to grow his tulips in peace. His crowning achievement is set to be the impossible black tulip, a feat worth one hundred thousand guilders from the Horticultural Society of Haarlem, but before he can sprout the bulb he’s imprisoned with only the daughter of the prison warden to give him a glimmer of hope. Set a few decades after the tulip mania of the 1630s, Alexandre Dumas’s novel opens with a historical incident: the mob killing of Johan and Cornelius de Witt, then high up in the government. Dumas successfully balances the romance of the protagonist’s love for both the heroine and his precious tulip with a quest to prove his innocence and thwart the schemes of his rival tulip-fancier Boxtel. The Black Tulip was originally published in three volumes in French in 1850; presented here is the 1902 translation by publisher P. F. Collier & Son. This book is part of the Standard Ebooks project, which produces free public domain ebooks.

Lynn Nguyen

Alexandre Dumas Pere

Set at the height of the "tulipomania" that gripped Holland in 17th century, this is the story of Cornelius van Baerle, a humble grower whose sole desire is to grow the perfect specimen of the tulip negra. When his godfather is murdered, Cornelius finds himself caught up in the deadly politics of the time, imprisoned and facing a death sentence. His jailor's daughter Rosa, holds both the key to his survival and his chance to produce the ultimate tulip.

Cat Josephson

Andrew Louis

Dana Paduraru

Luca Silverentand 

Anna

Andreia Santos

Tulip

Benjamin Oertel

Sabine Delorme

Molly Phillips

Isa s

Julia A.

Alexandre Dumas (père)

Alexandre Dumas's novels are notable for their suspense and excitement, their foul deeds, hairsbreadth escapes, and glorious victories. In The Black Tulip (1850), the shortest of Dumas's most famous tales, the real hero is no Musketeer, but a flower. The novel - a deceptively simple story - is set in Holland in 1672, and weaves the historical events surrounding the brutal murder of John de Witte and his brother Cornelius into a tale of romantic love. The novel is also a timeless political allegory in which Dumas, drawing on the violence and crimes of history, makes his case against tyranny and puts all his energies into creating a symbol of justice and tolerance: the fateful tulipa negra. This new edition reprints the first, classic English translation. David Coward sets the novel in the context of its author's life, the turbulent history of the Dutch Republic, and the amazing `tulipmania' of the seventeenth century which brought wealth to some and ruin to many. - ;Alexandre Dumas's novels are notable for their suspense and excitement, their foul deeds, hairsbreadth escapes, and glorious victories. In The Black Tulip (1850), the shortest of Dumas's most famous tales, the real hero is no Musketeer, but a flower. The novel - a deceptively simple story - is set in Holland in 1672, and weaves the historical events surrounding the brutal murder of John de Witte and his brother Cornelius into a tale of romantic love. The novel is also a timeless political allegory in which Dumas, drawing on the violence and crimes of history, makes his case against tyranny and puts all his energies into creating a symbol of justice and tolerance: the fateful tulipa negra. This new edition reprints the first, classic English translation. David Coward sets the novel in the context of its author's life, the turbulent history of the Dutch Republic, and the amazing `tulipmania' of the seventeenth century which brought wealth to some and ruin to many. -

The Black Tulip

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