The Revolt of the Angels

Books are missing from the archbishop's shelves and the librarian is helpless to explain until the culprit is revealed: Arcade, the clergyman's guardian angel, has been educating himself. Immersion in works of philosophy and science has convinced Arcade that God is a cruel tyrant. Revolution is the only answer, and Arcade joins a host of fallen angels to mount a rebellion that proposes to install Satan on the throne of heaven.
This 1914 novel by Nobel laureate Anatole France offers a brilliant satire of war, government, and religion. Published on the eve of World War I, the fable voices an ever-resonant protest against violence and despotism. The author's sense of humor brings a remarkably contemporary air to the Paradise Lost scenario, and stunning black-and-white illustrations by Frank C. Papé complement the tale's fantasy elements.

Poet, novelist, and journalist Anatole France (1844–1924) received the Nobel Prize in 1921 in recognition of his literary achievements. His works reflect an ironic and skeptical point of view, and his books were placed on the Roman Catholic Church's Index of Forbidden Books.

I. Containing in a few lines the history of a French family from 1789 to the present dayII. Wherein useful Information will be found concering a Library where strange things will shortly come to passIII. Wherein the Mystery beginsIV. Which in its Forceful Brevity projects us to the limits of the Actual worldV. Wherein Everything seems strange because Everything is logicalVI. Wherein Pere Sariette discovers his Missing TreasuresVII. Of a somewhat lively interest, whereof the moral will, I hop,e appeal greatly to my Readers, since it can be expressed by this sorrowful query: "Thought, whither dost thou lead me?" For it is a universally admitted truth that true wisdom lies in not thinking at allVIII. Which speaks of Love, a subject which always gives pleasure, for a Tale without Love is like Beef without Mustard: an insipid dishIX. Wherein it is shown that, as an ancient Greek Poet said, "Nothing is sweeter than Aphrodite the Golden"X. Which far surpasses an audacity the imaginative flights of Dante and MiltonXI. Recounts in what manner the Angel, attired in the cast-off garments of a suicide, leaves the youthful Maurice without a Heavenly GuardianXII. Wherein it is set forth how the Angel Mirar, when bearing Grace and Consolation to those dwelling in the neighbourhood of the Champs Elysees in Paris, beheld a Music-Hall Singer named Bouchotte and fell in love with herXIII. Wherein we hear the beautiful archangel Zita unfold her lofty designs and are shown the wings of Mirar, all moth-eaten, in a cupboardXIV. Which reveals the Cherub toiling for the welfare of humanity and concludes in an entirely novel manner with the Miracle of the FluteXV. Wherein we see young Maurice bewailing the loss of his Guardian Angel, even in his mistress's arms, and wherein we hear the Abbe Patouille reject as vain and illusory all notions of a new rebellion of the AngelsXVI. Wherein Mira the Seeress, Zephyrine and the fatal Amedee are successively brought upon the scene, and wherein the notion of Euripides that those whom Zeus wishes to crush he first makes mad, is illustrated by the terrible example of Monsieur SarietteXVII. Wherein we learn that Sophar, no less eager for gold than Mammon, looked upon his heavenly home less favourably than upon France, a country blessed with a Savings Bank and Loan Departments, and wherein we see, yet once again, that whoso is possessed of this world's goods fears the evil effects of any changeXVIII. Wherein is begun the Gardener's Story, in the course of which we shall see the Destiny of the World unfolded in a discourse as broad and magnificent in its views, as Bossuet's discourse on the history of the universe is narrow and dismalXIX. The Gardener's Story, continuedXX. The Gardener's Story, continuedXXI. The Gardener's Story, concludedXXII. Wherein we are shown the interior of a Bric-a-brac shop, and see how Pere Guinardon's guilty happiness is marred by the jealousy of a love-lorn dameXXIII. Wherein we are permitted to observe the admirable character of Bouchotte, who resists violence but yields to love. After that let no one call the Author a MisogynistXXIV. Containing an account of the vicissitudes that befel the "Lucretius" of the Prior do VendomeXXV. Wherein Maurice finds his angel againXXVI. The ConclaveXXVII. Wherein we shall see revealed a dark and secret mystery and learn how it comes about that Empires are often hurled against Empires, and ruin falls alike upon the victors and the vanquished; and the wise reader (if such there be--which I doubt) will meditate upon this important utterance: "A war is a matter of business"XXVIII. Which treats of a painful domestic sceneXXIX. Wherein we see how the Angel, having become a man, behaves like a man, coveting another's wife and betraying his friend. In this chapter the correctness of young D'Esparvieu's conduct will be made manifestXXX. Which treats of an affair of honour, and which will afford the reader an opportunity of judging whether, as Arcade affirms, the experience of our faults makes better men and women of usXXXI. Wherein we are led to marvel at the readiness with which an honest man of timid and gentle nature can commit a horrible crimeXXXII. Which describes how Nectaire's flute was heard in the tavern of ClodomirXXXIII. How a dreadful crime plunges Paris into a state of terrorXXXIV. Which contains an account of the arrest of Bouchotte and Maurice, of the disaster which befell the D'Esparvieu library, and of the departure of the AngelsXXXV. And last, wherein the sublime dream of Satan is unfolded