by Émile Zola
Part of Les Rougon-Macquart, book 19
First published 1892
Jean Macquart and Maurice Levasseur march with their regiment as Prussia invades France in 1870. The Second Empire crumbles around them while they endure brutal combat and military incompetence. Jean, a seasoned peasant soldier, watches over the educated but fragile Maurice as their unit retreats toward the disaster at Sedan. The two men witness Napoleon III's army collapse in one of history's most crushing defeats. After the empire falls, revolutionary violence erupts in Paris during the Commune uprising. Jean and Maurice find themselves on opposite sides of the barricades as Frenchman fights Frenchman in the streets. Zola follows these ordinary soldiers through circumstances beyond their control, showing how war destroys not just armies but the bonds between men who once called each other brother.
Genres: 20th-century, war, 19th-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: France, Prussia, Paris, Sedan
Period: 1870, Second Empire, Commune
512 pages · Paperback · Penguin Classics
Content warnings: violence, war