Showing results for "Coup" in Classics

In Harry Turtledove's mesmerizing alternate history of World War II, the choices of men and fate have changed history. Now it is the winter of 1941. As the Germans, with England and France on their side, slam deep into Russia, Stalin's terrible machine fights for its life. But the agreements of world leaders do not touch the hearts of soldiers. The war between Germany and Russia is rocked by men with the courage to aim their guns in a new direction. England is the first to be shaken.

"The Coup de Grâce" a short story by Ambrose Bierce, himself a troubled veteran of the American Civil War, details a fictional situation, which may be based on some truth. An act so humane and yet so repugnant it would not be spoken of. War is unglamorous and ugly.

Un vieil homme, tout voûté, traînant la jambe, parcourt les rues de Paris, un panier de cacahuètes au bras. Sa silhouette est familière aux habitués des terrasses des Champs-Élysées comme à la jeunesse du quartier Latin. "Papa cacahuètes" se moque pas mal des quolibets, sur son passage. Il poursuit son bonhomme de chemin avec une idée fixe en tête. Une idée formidable ! Faire de son fils le maître de la France ! Car il a un fils, ce loqueteux !