_Riou collaborated with Bergson, Henri Poincaré, and Charles Gide in the publication of a historical study, ~Le matérialisme actuel~, an attempt to summarize the tendencies of contemporary thought. Of this volume a critic declared: “For France it celebrates the close of the age of negativism, and heralds the opening of an epoch of lyrical effort, of affirmation, and of activity.”_ _When war broke out, Gaston Riou had just returned from a journey in England, Scotland, and Wales. He went to the front among the first, took part in the fighting in Lorraine, and was mentioned in dispatches. He was wounded in the battle of Dieuze, was taken prisoner, and passed eleven months in a Bavarian fortress. This was not his first visit to Germany. A year earlier he had been sent there on an official mission, and he is personally acquainted with many Germans of note._ _The fruit of his imprisonment is ~Journal d’un simple soldat~, which we are now publishing as ~The Diary of a French Private~. In its native land the success of the book has been extraordinary, and the sternest of French critics have with one voice declared it to be a permanent addition to literature. Paul Bourget, Emile Faguet, Camille Mauclair, and Maurice Donnay all speak of it as a masterpiece._ TO GUGLIELMO FERRERO WE. Had we laid their hearts bare, we should have found there, not so much war, as justice and humanity. MICHELET. THEY. I begin by seizing what I want; there are plenty of pedants in my realm who can prove my right to it. FREDERICK II. CONTENTS PAGE REMINISCENCES OF A PREVIOUS JOURNEY 11 FEVER AND LOW SPIRITS 59 DINNER 66 FONTAINEBLEAU 71 AN OLD CAMPAIGNER 73 I HAVE A TABLE 79 WE KILL THEIR HOPES 85 SUNDAY 98 THE VICTORY OF THE MARNE 103 A BREAKFAST 117 THE FIRST LETTER 123 STILL SHORT COMMONS 130 I HAVE A PALLIASSE 145 THE REVOLT OF THE HUNGRY 151 A CHANCE CATERER 175 OUR GAOLER 196 THE SLOPES ARE FORBIDDEN 214 A BLACK MOOD 220 A FRANCONIAN QUARTERMASTER 226 DAWN 250 HE GOES AWAY 255