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