Coal mines have become rare, but the miners of Germinal are immortal. This new edition of the novel, with a translation by Raymond MacKenzie, is an exquisite tribute to their work, their misery and their eventual revolt. In his introduction, David Baguley--one of the most respected authorities on the work of Zola--brilliantly illuminates the genetic, historical and aesthetic aspects of the novel. His lucid, sensitive and critical gaze highlights the real secrets of the work: its underlying anthropological and social investigation, the dark power of the tragic imagination and the brightness of symbolic and mythic intuitions. --Henri Mitterand, Professor Emeritus, Columbia University