How did Pierre Fatou and Gaston Julia create what we now call Complex
Dynamics, in the context of the early twentieth century and especially
of the First World War? The book is based partly on new, unpublished
sources. Who were Pierre Fatou, Gaston Julia, Paul Montel? New
biographical information is given on the little known mathematician that
was Pierre Fatou. How did the WW1 injury of Julia influence mathematical
life in France? From the reviews of the French version: "Audin's book is
... filled with marvelous biographical information and analysis, dealing
not just with the men mentioned in the book's title but a large number
of other players, too ... [It] addresses itself to scholars for whom
the history of mathematics has a particular resonance and especially to
mathematicians active, or even with merely an interest, in complex
dynamics. ... presents it all to the reader in a very appealing form."
(Michael Berg, The Mathematical Association of America, October 2009)