Zola and His World

Under construction

This page gathers together posts from our contributors such as

• biographies about Zola, and commentary about them
• pieces about the historical context and significance of Zola’s writing
• the Dreyfus Affair
• and other pieces that contribute to understanding the context in which Zola wrote.

Biographies, and commentary about them

Zola and His Time: by Matthew Johnson (1928)
Garden of Zola by Graham King (1978)
Zola: A Life by Frederick Brown (1995)

The Dreyfus Affair

J’Accuse: Zola and Dreyfus

Zola the Man

Zola Through the Years (photographic slide show)

Zola’s writing, its significance and historical context

Eric Hobsbawn on the Rougon Macquart series, (excerpt from The Age of Capital 1848-1875)

William Dean Howells on Emile Zola

Brian Nelson on Desire and Sexuality in the work of Emile Zola on the OUP blog.

Zola’s home town: Aix-en-Provence

Plassans Then, Aix Now