I may, perhaps, be allowed to add that I have given considerable time and care to the translation of 'La Débâcle.' I have always tried to give the sense and substance of M. Zola's narrative, though at times I have found myself unable to use his actual words. In matters of translation, however, I am of the opinion of Thackeray, which was also that expressed by James Howell in one of his often-quoted 'Familiar Letters.' Here and there I have appended to the text some notes which may assist the reader, for whose benefit the publishers have provided two sketch-maps of the battle of Sedan. E. A. V. _November_ 1892. (See Translator's Note at the end.) CONTENTS PREFACE MAPS _PART I_ FROM THE RHINE TO THE MEUSE CHAP. I. IN CAMP--A GREAT DISASTER II. THE PANIC--FROM BELFORT TO RHEIMS III. TALES OF TWO BATTLES--THE EMPEROR IV. ON THE MARCH--THE SPY V. IN BATTLE ARRAY--THE NIGHT OF THE CRIME VI. AN ARMY'S CALVARY--CHASED BY THE FOE VII. IN VIEW OF SEDAN--SILVINE'S STORY VIII. SEDAN AT LAST!--THE EVE OF BATTLE _PART II_ THE BATTLE OF SEDAN CHAP. I. THE ATTACK ON BAZEILLES--THE EMPEROR UNDER FIRE II. MAURICE RECEIVES THE BAPTISM OF FIRE III. INSIDE SEDAN: NAPOLEON'S MIDNIGHT AGONY--TWO WOMEN IV. A WOMAN'S HEROISM--THE HORRORS OF BAZEILLES V. THE STRUGGLE FOR THE CALVARY--THE GREAT CHARGE VI. THE WHITE FLAG--AN AMBULANCE VII. THROUGH THE ROUT--THE FIGHT AT THE HERMITAGE VIII. TRUCE AND SURRENDER _PART III_ WOE TO THE VANQUISHED! CHAP. I. SILVINE'S QUEST--AMONG THE SLAIN II. THE HORRORS OF CAPTIVITY--STARVATION, MURDER, AND DISEASE III. THE SLAVE-DRIVERS--A BID FOR FREEDOM IV. DARK DAYS--BAZAINE THE TRAITOR--THE TIDE OF WAR V. GOLIATH THE SPY--AN AWFUL VENGEANCE VI. THE CONQUEROR'S SWAY--GIDDY GILBERTE VII. INSIDE PARIS: SIEGE AND COMMUNE--THE BARRICADES VIII. THE BURNING OF BABYLON--THE BITTER END NOTES [Illustration: BATTLE OF SEDAN AT 7 A.M.] [Illustration: map] THE DOWNFALL PART I _FROM THE RHINE TO THE MEUSE_ CHAPTER I IN CAMP--A GREAT DISASTER The camp was pitched in the centre of a fertile plain at a mile or so from Mulhausen, in the direction of the Rhine. In the twilight of a sultry day in August, under the dull sky, across which heavy clouds were drifting, the rows of shelter-tents could be seen stretching out amid a broad expanse of ploughed land. At regular intervals along the front gleamed the piles of arms, guarded by sentinels with loaded rifles, who stood there stock-still, their eyes fixed dreamily on the violet-tinted mist which was rising from the great river on the far horizon.