Germinal

Coal mines have become rare, but the miners of Germinal are immortal. This new edition of the novel, with a translation by Raymond MacKenzie, is an exquisite tribute to their work, their misery and their eventual revolt. In his introduction, David Baguley--one of the most respected authorities on the work of Zola--brilliantly illuminates the genetic, historical and aesthetic aspects of the novel. His lucid, sensitive and critical gaze highlights the real secrets of the work: its underlying anthropological and social investigation, the dark power of the tragic imagination and the brightness of symbolic and mythic intuitions. --Henri Mitterand, Professor Emeritus, Columbia University
Raymond MacKenzie's elegant new translation of Emile Zola's Germinal captures the diction of the novel's colorful characters and the restrained voice of a naturalist narrator. David Baguley's introduction analyzes Zola's personal background, his literary and scientific influences, and the historical circumstances of French workers in the 1860s as well as a spectrum of political acts and deeds in the 1880s when the novel was written. These features plus Zola's notes on the town of Anzin that he studied prior to writing the novel, make this the edition of choice for course adoptions in history and literature. --Stephen Kern, Humanities Distinguished Professor, Department of History, Ohio State University