Alexander Dumas (1802 ù 1870) was a French writer best known for his adventurous historical novels.

Dumas also wrote plays and magazine articles.

His most famous works The Count of Monte Cristo, The Three Musketeers, Twenty Years After, and The Vicomte de Bragelonne first appeared in serial form.

First published in 1850, The Black Tulip is set amid the political turmoil of seventeenth-century Holland.

Two brothers develop a rare species of tulip.

When they are unjustly accused of treason, a greedy tulip fancier sees the chance to claim the valuable discovery for himself.