Romains, Jules — Verdun

Peter Davies - The Book Society 1940 reprint. Cloth, G. [x]+498pp, folding frontis map, cloth grubby, two bookplates, a good solid reading copy. The author's two novels set before & during the Battle of Verdun which make up the central ( 15th & 16th ) parts of his epic novel cycle 'Les Hommes de Bonne Volonté'. The cycle is an attempt to recreate the spirit of a whole era of French society from October 1908, to October 1933. There is no central figure or family to provide a focus for the narrative, and the work is populated by a huge cast of characters.