The Forerunners

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About this book

Written amid the First World War, these essays defend the freedom to think across national borders. Romain Rolland gathers articles published in Switzerland between late 1915 and early 1919, giving them a frame of peace and human solidarity. An opening ode addresses Peace, while the introduction names writers and thinkers, including Bertrand Russell, Maxim Gorki and Stefan Zweig, whose independence he values under public and political pressure.

Rolland also turns to books about the fighting. In his discussion of Andreas Latzko's Men in Battle, he weighs the power of painful recollection and sharp irony against the strain they place on a reader. His concern is the distance between those who suffer and spectators who welcome reports of victory. The collection offers a view of wartime literary debate, conscience and the effort to sustain international fellowship.

About the author

Romain Rolland

Romain Rolland (1866-1944) was a French novelist, dramatist, and essayist awarded the 1915 Nobel Prize in Literature. A committed pacifist and humanist, he is remembered for the epic novel cycle Jean-Christophe and for his outspoken opposition to the nationalism of the First World War.