This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience. We believe this work is culturally important and have elected to bring the book back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.
Émile Zola Books
Émile Zola stands as a pivotal figure of literary naturalism, dissecting the intricate interplay between environment, heredity, and human destiny. His monumental series, Les Rougon-Macquart, meticulously chronicles the societal transformations and consequences of the Industrial Revolution through the lens of a single family across generations. Zola's profound exploration of social issues and psychological depth cemented his status as a powerful voice of his era. His enduring works continue to inspire artists and resonate deeply with contemporary readers.







This series provides a wide variety of reading materials for all learners of English. The books are retold versions of popular classics and contemporary titles as well as specially written stories.
This book is part of the TREDITION CLASSICS series, aimed at reviving public domain literature in print. TREDITION supports non-profit literary projects and donates a portion of proceeds to them. By reading a TREDITION CLASSICS book, you help preserve significant works of world literature.
Zola's novel of peasant life describes the disintegration of the Fouan family when Papa Fouan decides to divide his land between his three children. Greed and violence feed a bitter struggle for supremacy. This new translation captures the novel's blend of brutality and lyricism in its evocation of the inexorable cycle of the natural world.
The Bright Side of Life
- 368 pages
- 13 hours of reading
When Pauline Quenu is taken to the seaside to live with her relatives, her love of life contrasts with the pessimism which infects the family. This is the twelfth novel in Zola's Rougon-Macquart series, remarkable for it's depictions of intense emotions and physical and mental suffering.
The Debacle
- 512 pages
- 18 hours of reading
Conservative and working-class, Jean Macquart is an experienced, middle-aged soldier in the French army, who has endured deep personal loss. When he first meets the wealthy and mercurial Maurice Levasseur, who never seems to have suffered, his hatred is immediate.
Great Short Stories of the World
- 876 pages
- 31 hours of reading
The short story is one of the most skilled and entertaining of literary forms. This marvellous collection rangers over nearly five thousand years and includes stories from countries all round the world. Many of the great classical authors are included such as Dickens, Hardy, Balzac, Zola, de Maupassant, Tolstoy, Chekhov, Hawthorne, O. Henry and Poe. Other writers equally worthy of fame, but little known outside their own countries, have been specially translater for this volume. The stories have been arranged under their country of origin and each section is introduced by a compact survey of the development of the short story within that country. Every story is preceded by a useful biographical note on the author. Altogether, 178 different tales have been gathered here, each among the best of its kind. Tragic, comic, romantic or macabre, they are guaranteed to bring hours of pleasure to every reader.
La Bête humaine
- 368 pages
- 13 hours of reading
One of Zola's most violent works, this novel is on one level a tale of murder and possession, and on another a compassionate study of individuals derailed by atavistic forces beyond their control. It evokes life at the end of the Second Empire in France, and a society hurtling towards the future.
Eleventh book in the author's Rougon-Macquart cycle.
Pot Luck
- 416 pages
- 15 hours of reading
Pot Luck , Zola's most acerbic satire, describes daily life in a newly constructed block of flats in late nineteenth-century Paris. In examining the contradictions that pervade bourgeois life, Zola reveals a multitude of betrayals and depicts a veritable 'melting pot' of moral and sexualdegeneracy. This new translation captures the robustness of Zola's language and restores the omissions of earlier abridged versions.



