The Crime of Sylvestre Bonnard

A classic of French literature.

From the author of the novels «The Revolt of the Angels» and «Island of Penguins».

Anatole France is one of the most popular French writers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Both readers and literary scholars agree that the image of the main character in the novel «The Crime of Sylvester Bonard» is taken from the author himself. The elderly historian and philologist Sylvester Bonard lives among old manuscripts and books and doesn’t get along with people very well. However, when he meets his beloved woman’s granddaughter—the one he once loved—old feelings flare up in his soul. Learning that the girl’s guardian treats her cruelly, Sylvester decides to kidnap Jeanne Alexander from her father’s house…

The novel «The Gods Are Thirsty» takes place in the midst of the Great French Revolution. A young idealist, Evariste Gamelin, passionately supports the ideals of Danton, Robespierre, and Marat. When offered a seat as a juror in the revolutionary tribunal, Evariste zealously fights the enemies of the republic, sending both aristocrats and financiers and also dockworkers and servants to the scaffold with the same ruthless zeal. For when the gears of terror are set in motion, the gods eternally thirst for fresh blood, and the guillotine cannot stand idle for a single day.