Publisher's Synopsis
Benjamin Wells takes on an epic task: to catalog 115 authors, and 688 pieces of writing. Rather than focus on the popularity of the piece or the author, Wells groups them together by place or birth, historical context, and writing style, choosing to spend the most time on specific examples of writing he finds are most unique and excellent. Wells focuses on Stendhal, Balzac, Zola, and de Maupassant, and offers a historical contextualization of their writings and their impact on society.
