I was engaged with Romains' long series of novels "Men of Good Will" for several years. This was my ninth volume counting backwards. It is in the running for "The world's Longest Novel" and is ambitious. We have come to WWI, and as a great many of the French survivors had to do, we come to the terrible battle that lasted a year and a half, and killed a very large number of soldiers of both sides. Some of the main characters survive it, and some do not. As the original publication date was 1938, it seems quite prophetic of what was to come. The translation is quite able. ( )