The Conquest of Plassans

This translation of a pivotal text in Zolas larger history of the Second Empire continues an ongoing effort to bring to light the naturalist novelists less-known work to anglophone readers and scholarship. Helen Constantines translation is accompanied by an insightful critical introduction written by Patrick McGuinness, as well as rather pithy explanatory notes that help to situate the narratives drama within the context of the Second Empire and the complex web of political intrigue taking place outside the world of Plassans. Meredith Lehman, University of Texas, Modern Language Review