In the bloody chaos of the french revolution an exceptional man comes of age: alexandre - romantic, intelligent, immensely strong, son of a slave-owning count and his haitian first wife. he accidentally discovers the guilty secret of his new stepmother and her vicious brother. they conspire to destroy him. cast out by his father, alexandre is befriended by chevalier de saint-george - france's greatest swordsman, marie-antoinette's lover - and falls in love with hot-tempered marie labouret. when saint-george is wounded helping the royal family escape, alexandre leads the free american legion - 1,000 black lancers - in a brave defence of the republic against the invading royalist armies. in one for all the most extraordinary people and amazing events are actual historical fact. alexandre's son, world-renowned author alexandre dumas, found inspiration in the adventures of his father and his father's friend - the black originals of the much loved characters porthos and d'artagnan in the three musketeers.