His Excellency Eugène Rougon.
Translated by Brian Nelson.
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018.
Volume 2 of 20 in the Rougon-Macquart series.
(Volume 2 in recommended reading order; volume 6 in publication order.)
Book Information: Publisher; Wikipedia; Google Books; Amazon.com.
Book Series: Oxford World's Classics.
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Author Information:
- Émile Zola (1840–1902), Wikipedia.
- Brian Nelson (b. 1946).
- Émile Zola. Thérèse Raquin. Translated by Andrew Rothwell. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008.
[Publisher; Wikipedia; Google Books; Amazon.com.]
My post for Thérèse Raquin is here. - Émile Zola. The Fortune of the Rougons. Translated by Brian Nelson. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.
[Publisher; Wikipedia; Google Books; Amazon.com.]
My post for The Fortune of the Rougons is here.
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Wikipedia Articles:
- Émile Zola (1840–1902).
- Les Rougon-Macquart, 1871–1893.
- Son Excellence Eugène Rougon, 1876.
- 19th-century French literature: Naturalism.
- Naturalism (literature). ~~~~~~~~~~
- France in the long nineteenth century.
- French First Republic, 1792–1804.
- First French Empire, 1804–1814/1815.
- Bourbon Restoration in France, 1814/1815–1830.
- July Monarchy, 1830–1848.
- French Second Republic, 1848–1852.
- Second French Empire, 1852–1870.
- French Third Republic, 1870–1940.
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- Louis Napoléon Bonaparte (1808–1873), President of France 1848–1852; Emperor of the French as Napoleon III 1852–1870.
- 1851 French coup d'état.
- Second French Empire, 1852–1870.
- Paris during the Second Empire.
- Haussmann's renovation of Paris, 1853–1870. ~~~~~~~~~~
- Economic history of France: 1789–1914.
- History of rail transport in France. ~~~~~~~~~~
- Third cabinet of Napoleon III, 2 December 1852 – 17 July 1869.
- Eugène Rouher (1814–1884), French statesman, basis for the character Eugène Rougon in His Excellency Eugène Rougon.
- Jean Gilbert Victor Fialin, duc de Persigny (1808–1872), French statesman; some actions of the Duc de Persigny are attributed to the character Eugène Rougon in His Excellency Eugène Rougon.
- Charles de Morny, Duke of Morny (1808–1872), French industrialist and statesman, basis for the character the Count de Marsy in His Excellency Eugène Rougon. (French Wikipedia article is more detailed. That's true for most of the articles listed here.) ~~~~~~~~~~
- Napoléon, Prince Imperial, born 16 March 1856; the government / public celebration of his baptism on 14 June 1856 provides the backdrop for Chapter 4 in His Excellency Eugène Rougon.
- Virginia Oldoini, Countess of Castiglione (1837–1899), basis for the character Clorinde Balbi in His Excellency Eugène Rougon.
- Italian unification, "Risorgimento".
- Palais Bourbon, meeting place of the French National Assembly; setting for Chapters 1 and 14 in His Excellency Eugène Rougon.
- Château de Compiègne, setting for Chapter 7 in His Excellency Eugène Rougon.
- Château de Saint-Cloud, setting for Chapter 11 in His Excellency Eugène Rougon.
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"Rougon is a composite character, modeled on General Espinasse (Minister of the Interior in the aftermath of the Orsini Affair), the Duc de Persigny, Jules Baroche, Adolphe Billault, and, especially, Eugène Rouher, the 'strong man' of the Empire, sometimes referred to as the 'vice-Emperor'." - Introduction, page xvii.
"The novel is one of the least popular of Zola's novels. However, it is valuable to the historian as a detailed evocation of politics during Napoleon III's Second Empire; and it is especially noteworthy as a surprisingly modern satire of all forms of authoritarian government and of the malevolence, duplicity, and language games of which those in power are capable." - Translator's Note, page xxvi.