Roux Le Bandit

A Frenchman flees his small mountain village to avoid service in World War I in a thoughtful, witty novel about the conflict of patriotism and conscience. Deep in the Cévennes Mountains of southern France, a man called Roux refuses to heed the call to duty at the outbreak of war in 1914. Instead, he flees and hides in the hills, returning only occasionally to the farm where he left his mother and sisters. The people of the valley condemn his desertion and hope the police will find his hideout and force him into the army. Then, as the months and the years go by, and the horrors of the trenches become known, the locals begin to understand Roux’s actions—but it is only at the end of the war that his fate will be decided. In an atmospheric and often witty novel of life during wartime in a rural French community, André Chamson explores the questions of perception and morality, as well as the roles we play in the great historical events of our times.

This story begins in the Paris of the 1930s, when artists and writers stood at the center of the world stage. In the decade that saw the rise of the Nazis, much of the thinking world sought guidance from this extraordinary group of intellectuals. Herbert Lottman's chronicle follows the influential players—Gide, Malraux, Sartre, de Beauvoir, Koestler, Camus, and their pro-Fascist counterparts—through the German occupation, Liberation, and into the Cold War, when the struggle between superpowers all but drowned out their voices. "Surprisingly fresh and intense. . . . A retrospective travelogue of the Left Bank in the days when it was the setting for almost all French intellectual activity. . . . Absorbing."—Naomi Bliven, New Yorker "As an introduction to a period in French history already legendary, The Left Bank is superb."—Michael Dirda, Washington Post Book World "An intellectual history. A history of the interaction between politics and letters. And a rumination on the limitless credulity of intellectuals."—Christopher Hitchens, New Statesman

The commemoration of the formation of the Union of Utrecht, four hundred years ago on 23 January 1579, was celebrated by many different events. One of these, certainly not the least important to historians, was the holding of an inter national congress in Utrecht and Zeist on 8, 9 and 10 May 1979, organized by the Dutch Historical Association. This Association had decided to select a theme which fitted well in the framework of the Union celebrations: federalism, history and current significance of a form of government. For the Union of Utrecht con stituted the legal foundation, even the constitution, it is claimed, of the Republic of the United Netherlands, and that commonwealth can undoubtedly be regard ed as a very interesting example of a federal form of government. As is evident from the formulation of the congress theme the intention of the or ganizers was that attention should be given not only to federal and regional struc tures and tendencies in the past but also in the contemporary world. Historical phenomena needed (necessarily) to be viewed in present-day perspective, current problems ought if possible to be seen in historical perspective. There is no doubt that the prevailing view today, at least in the Western World, is to a great extent characterized by a growing dislike of the modern Leviathan, the highly centraliz ed, bureaucratic welfare State.

An overview of French literature as it evolved from the Middle Ages to the mid-twentieth century. In this compact yet wide-ranging volume, the many aspects of French literature and the different tendencies of successive schools are shown in the light of contemporaneous political and artistic developments. A Concise Survey of French Literature explores the relationship between literature and the evolution of French thought, deeply concerned, as it is, with the problems of human life and destiny. It also serves as an excellent reference for any student of French literature.

Selected papers from a conference organized at the National University of Ireland, Galway, in April 2004.