Published in 1912, when Anatole France was sixty-eight, ''The Gods Will Have Blood'' is the story of Gamelin, an idealistic young artist appointed as a magistrate during the French Revolution. Gamelin's ideals lead him to the most monstrous mass murder of his countrymen, and the links between Gamelin and his family, his mistress and the humanist Brotteaux are catastrophically severed. This book recreates the violence and devastation of the Terror with breathtaking power, and weaves into it a tale which grips, convinces and profoundly moves. The perfection of Anatole France's prose style, with its myriad subtle ironies, is here translated by Frederick Davies with admirable skill and sensitivity. That ''The Gods Will Have Blood'' is Anatole France's masterpiece is beyond doubt. It is also one of the most brilliantly polished novels in French literature.

アナトール・フランスが描く本作は、革命という純粋な理想が狂気へと変貌する過程を抉り出した傑作です。正義を信じる若き画家のガムランが、その高潔さゆえに凄惨な殺戮へと加担していく姿は、人間の善性の危うさを鮮烈に突きつけます。極限下で失われる慈悲と、それでも淡々と続く日常の対比が、読者の心を激しく揺さぶります。 洗練された文体と随所に潜む静かな皮肉こそが、著者の真骨頂です。理想に燃える狂信者と、懐疑的な博愛主義者との対話は、今なお色褪せない文明論としての深みを湛えています。血塗られた歴史を美しくも残酷な芸術へと昇華させた本作は、まさにフランス文学の頂点といえる至高の一冊です。