On a fine summer day in July 1870, the famous French author Alphonse Daudet accidentally broke a leg - coincidentally the same day war was declared in what later became known as the Franco-Prussian War. Daudet, along with everyone else in the French countryside, retreated (hobbled) westward before the invading "Saxons" to behind the protective walls of Paris. However modern weapons made short work of the cities defenses, and when France capitulated 5 months later, Daudet returned back to his village. There he found an old man who had stayed behind and rode out the war as a "recluse" hiding from the Germans. The old mans tale, and Daudet's own experiences with the Germans who were still swarming around after France's surrender, sparked the idea for the novel. It is about a man named Robert Helmont (a character from an earlier novel) who - because of a broken leg - is unable to retreat and hides behind enemy lines during the siege of Paris. It's a wonderful story filled with mystery and adventure, but also Daudet's beautiful descriptions of nature, and the wonders of entire towns devoid of people in a sort of proto "Last Man on Earth" story. Before there was The Road, there was Robert Helmont. It's a short novel easily read in a few hours and includes illustrations on every other page which bring it alive. It's a realistic novel, all the places mentioned are actual locations, yet romantic (Rousseauian) in its emphasis on the primal order of nature. The contrast between nature and war is at the heart of the books beauty. It's also an interesting history lesson for a sense of mid-19th century warfare and nationalistic sentiments. Overall an easy to read but tasteful "high culture" adventure story.

Available at Internet Archive: Robert Helmont

--Review by Stephen Balbach, via CoolReading (c) 2008 cc-by-nd ( )