If "good wine needs no bush and a good play needs no epilogue," then a good book needs no prologue. Therefore I shall not refer to the simplicity and charm, with which M. Lauzanne has told the story with which this book deals. The reader will judge that for himself; and unless the writer of this foreword is much mistaken, that judgment will be wholly favorable. There have been many war books--a very deluge of literature in which thinking men have been hopelessly submerged--but most books of wartime reminiscences do not ring true. There is too obvious an attempt to be dramatic and sensational. This book avoids this error and its author has contented himself with telling in a simple and convincing manner something of the part which he was called upon to play. I venture to predict that all good Americans who read this book will become the friends, through the printed pages, of this gifted and brilliant writer, and if it were possible for such Americans to increase their love and admiration for France, then this book would deepen the profound regard in which America holds its ancient ally. JAMES M. BECK. CONTENTS PAGE I WHY FRANCE IS FIGHTING The declaration of war and the French mobilization--The invasion and the tragic days of Paris in August and September, 1914: personal reminiscences--The premeditated cruelties of Germany: new documents--The German organized spying system in France 1 II HOW FRANCE IS FIGHTING France fighting with her men, her women and her children--The men show that they know how to suffer: episodes of the Marne and of Verdun--The women encourage the men to fight and to suffer: some illustrations--Sacred Union of all Frenchmen against the enemy--all, without any distinction of class or religion, die smiling--Letters of soldiers--The organization in the rear: the work in the factories 51 III FRANCE SUFFERING BUT NOT BLED WHITE Despite her sufferings, France is able to pay 20 billions of dollars, for the war, in three years--French commerce and French work during the war--France is helping her allies from a military standpoint and financially--The saving of Serbia 94 IV THE WAR AIMS OF FRANCE Restitution: Alsace-Lorraine--Restoration: The devastated and looted territories. Guarantees: The Society of Nations 138 APPENDICES APPENDIX I.--HOW GERMANS FORCED WAR ON FRANCE 179 APPENDIX II.--HOW GERMANS TREAT AN AMBASSADOR 183 APPENDIX III.--HOW GERMANS ARE WAGING WAR 196 APPENDIX IV.--HOW GERMANS OCCUPY THE TERRITORY OF AN ENEMY 200 APPENDIX V.--HOW GERMANS TREAT ALSACE-LORRAINE 206 APPENDIX VI.--HOW GERMANS UNDERSTAND FUTURE PEACE 229 FIGHTING FRANCE I WHY FRANCE IS FIGHTING