Translator's note:
Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (1840-1902) was a French author, the founder of the literary 'naturalist movement', which applied new ideas in natural history to social situations. Among his many works was a 20-novel cycle, collectively known as "Les Rougon-Macquart", chronicling the lives of five generations of a single family during the Second Empire. one of these novels was "La Béte Humaine" (The Human Beast, 1890) which follows the Lantier branch of the family.

Though highly-regarded in literary Circles, Zola was not without his critics, who accused him of exaggerating the criminality and pathological behavior of the lower Classes, and of Obscenity. Fortunately for us, both these characteristics are well·represented in "La Bête Humaine".

Beyond his literary output, Zola is remembered as the autnor of "J'accuse", me open letter that exposed tne injustice of tne Dreyfuss Affair.