The Career of Rougon

«The Career of Rougon» — the first novel of the epic multi-volume saga «Rougon-Macquart», serving as a kind of prologue to the following books of the cycle. Plassans, a small town in southern France, December 1851. Society is divided — the democratically elected president of the country, the nephew of Bonaparte himself, has staged a coup and declared himself the new emperor. Revolutionary cells arise across the country, striving to defend the republic. The uprising reaches Plassans and drags Pierre Rougon and his half-brother, Antoine Macquart, into its midst. Unrestrainedly dreaming of getting rich, Pierre Rougon fully supports the restoration of the monarchy. Hating Pierre, Antoine joins the rebels. But the revolutionaries do not suspect that in the pursuit of power and wealth, Antoine is just as ambitious as his brother. And for his desires, Macquart is ready to do anything, even temporary alliance with the most hated man in the world…