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