The Enlightened Physician ― Achille-ClTophas Flaubert, 1784-1846

The author of this book is also the author of a critically-acclaimed biography of French writer Gustave Flaubert. This is a biography of the writer's father, who was a successful physician who grew up during the French Revolution. The book documents his birth in a provincial town, the effects of the Terror and the materialist Enlightenment on education, and the elder Flaubert's rise to prominence (he avoided military service and became the director of a large hospital in Rouen). In his career at the hospital, he served mostly factory workers who were dying young as a consequence of the lifestyles imposed by the new, modern France-an ideal their doctor had dedicated himself to. The book is based on extensive archival research. It uses the life of Achille-Cleophas Flaubert to look at issues in the relationship between science and religion, and the conflicts between Enlightenment ideals and industrial realities. Annotation c2014 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)

Geoffrey Wall is Reader in Modern French at the University of York. He is the author of Flaubert: A Life, which was shortlisted for two major literary prizes when it was published in 2001. He has also published translations of four major works by Gustave Flaubert.