A Man in Uniform

U.S.A.: Doubleday Canada, 2010. 1st Edition 1st Printing. Hardcover. New/New. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall. Synopsis: The year is 1897 and France stands at the threshold of the tumultuous 20th century. Still smarting from the losses of the Franco-Prussian war, the army sees traitors under every bed while the government fears both the Germans and the anarchists. Socialists and monarchists, Republicans and conservatives argue bitterly over the future of the nation while a new mass media has emerged with rival political newspapers to fan the flames of conflict. Cheerfully oblivious to the partisan turmoil is bourgeois lawyer François Dubon. Once a bit of a radical himself, he has artfully constructed a well-ordered existence running a genteel law firm, inherited from his father. He is married to Geneviève, an aristocratic wife from a celebrated military family, with whom he shares a young son and a comfortable, if passionless, marriage. For passion, he has his generous mistress Madeleine, who expects his company promptly at five o'clock daily and is prettily piqued if he is late. Then it's home to oblige his wife with his presence at dinner and at their myriad social engagements. It is a good life.