To the slaughterhouse

Long regarded as one of France's most distinguished writers, Jean Giono (1895-1970) produced one of his finest novels in TO THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE.

The book describes the effect of the First World War on a small community in Provence in chilling detail.

In some of the most fiercely realistic and horrifying scenes of war ever recreated in literature, Giono evokes the harsh, primitive conditions in the trenches, as well as the loneliness and anxiety experienced by those left at home.

The gradual disintegration of normal life and morals in areas far from the fighting grimly parallels the wholesale destruction of men, land andanimals at the front. - Giono's cult best-seller The Man who Planted Trees has sold more than 50,000 copies, and has been filmed, as well as appearing on BBC Radio 4 and on stage - Giono is the author of more than thirty other works including the play The Horseman on the Roof - A committed pacifist, Giono hid dissidents during the Second World War, and was imprisoned by the Vichy government from 1944-1945