A depiction of the poverty and wretchedness of a mining community in northern France under the second empire.

The thirteenth novel in Émile Zola's great Rougon-Macquart sequence, Germinal expresses outrage at the exploitation of the many by the few, but also shows humanity's capacity for compassion and hope.

Etienne Lantier, an unemployed railway worker, is a clever but uneducated young man with a dangerous temper. Forced to take a back-breaking job at Le Voreux mine when he cannot get other work, he discovers that his fellow miners are ill, hungry, and in debt, unable to feed and clothe their families. When conditions in the mining community deteriorate even further, Lantier finds himself leading a strike that could mean starvation or salvation for all.

• New translation

• Includes introduction, suggestions for further reading, filmography, chronology, explanatory notes, and glossary

“[Germinal] made me realize that when books are considered ‘classics,’ most of the time they’re actually very readable and exciting.” —Daniel Radcliffe