Ninety-Three (1874) is the final novel of Victor Hugo. As a work of historical fiction, the story is set during the period of conflict between the newly formed French Republic and the Royalists who sought to reverse the gains of the revolution. Praised for its morality and honest depiction of the horrors of war, Ninety-Three influenced such wide-ranging political thinkers as Joseph Stalin and Ayn Rand. "The soldiers forced cautiously. Everything was in full bloom; they were surrounded by a quivering wall of branches, whose leaves diffused a delicious freshness. Here and there sunbeams pierced these green shades." Advancing through the countryside, a band of Republican soldiers discovers a family of refugees, a mother and two children who fled for their lives during the insurrection of Royalists in Brittany. Taken in, they are swept up in an attack by the merciless Marquis de Lantenac, a counterrevolutionary leader who has just landed with a unit of Royalist troops. Separated from her children, Michelle is protected by a local beggar who hides her from Lantenac and his men. Meanwhile, Robespierre, Marat, and Danton have sent Commander Gauvain from Paris to stamp out the Royalist threat in Brittany, knowing all too well that Lantenac is his distant relative. As families are torn apart in the name of political struggle, as mercy gives way to death and betrayal, Hugo examines the human cost of war without losing sight of the gravity of the historical moment. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Victor Hugo's Ninety-Three is a classic work of French literature reimagined for modern readers.
