Beyond Revanche: The Death of La Belle Epoque

by Gerry Docherty

Nations go to war in a blare of trumpets and glory for high designs like Defence of the smaller nation, Democracy and Justice. Behind this rhetoric is the pain and anguish of slaughter, misery, starvation and death so that rich men grow richer. Beyond Revanche exposes the grotesque injustice of a world war within which small group of French policemen in the Deuxieme Bureau have to come to terms with the reality of destruction. Stretched to the limit they seek answers to the conundrum of who is actually controlling the war in France and beyond. The conspiracy they unearth threatens their very survival and that of France itself. Politics and injustice, sacrifice and conspiracy, violence and murder stalk the grand boulevards of Paris while the apparent ravings of a madman sheds a completely different light on events in the city and the politics of division. 13. This fast-paced story will enthral both readers who have no knowledge of the exposure of the French capital to capitulation in the first weeks of the war and those who have some awareness of these shocking times. The sheer complicity of rich and powerful men who willed the evil to their own advantage beggars belief. The main thread of events are witnessed by a young detective struggling to find acceptance and an assassin who is groomed to commit the final ‘necessary’ crime before war was declared in 1914. The following four years become an eye-opener to a truth which has been long buried.

432 pages, Paperback

Published April 7, 2022

Reviews

[Alma Wardrope · Rating 4 out of 5]

An engaging and engrossing read with lots of historical detail. It took a few chapters to get into the story and become familiar with all the characters as there were so many. The story moves at quite a pace and the plot twists and turns. Liked the slant of the book, focussing on internal French politics of the period and international relations.