The Debacle

The Debacle, which charts in vivid detail the Franco-Prussian war of 1870, is Zola’s only purely historical work.

France had waged war with many European countries since the Revolution, but Napoleon IIl’s declaration of war against Prussia in 1870 was an outrageous act of provocation that eventually brought about the collapse of the corrupt Second Empire. In this extraordinarily accurate, authentic account of France’s defeat, Zola has drawn on a great deal of personal research – on weapons, strategies and tactics – to give the most comprehensive chronicle of the war ever created.

The penultimate work in the great Rougon-Macquart series, The Debacle is, however, far more than a documentary. It is a grim testament to the way in which war poisons relationships, distorts perspective and brings out the most savage instincts in human nature. Above all, Zola’s vision of war as the tyranny of the powerful over the innocent makes The Debacle a disturbing prophecy of the twentieth century.