Fortune de France Reading Order
| Title | Published | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|
| The Brethren | 1977 | Buy |
| City of Wisdom and Blood | 1979 | Buy |
| Csikóéveink | 1979 | N/A |
| Heretic Dawn | 1980 | Buy |
| League of Spies | 1982 | Buy |
| La violente amour | 1982 | N/A |
| La Pique du jour | 1985 | N/A |
| Libben a szoknya | 1991 | N/A |
| L’Enfant Roi | 1993 | N/A |
| Les Roses de la vie | 1996 | N/A |
| Liliom és bíbor | 1997 | N/A |
| Veszedelem és dicsőség | 2000 | N/A |
| Ármány és cselszövés | 2001 | N/A |
| Risky Business | 2005 | N/A |
Non-Fiction
| Title | Published | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|
| Ahmed Ben Bella | 1965 | Buy |
Standalone Novels
| Title | Published | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|
| Week-end à Zuydcoote | 1950 | Buy |
| Death Is My Trade | 1954 | Buy |
| The Island | 1962 | Buy |
| The Day of the Dolphin | 1967 | Buy |
| Behind the Glass | 1972 | Buy |
| Malevil | 1973 | Buy |
| The Virility Factor | 1977 | Buy |
| Vittoria | 1986 | Buy |
| The Idol | 1989 | Buy |
Robert Merle was a French novelist whose career spanned five decades and ranged from war fiction to science fiction to historical epic. His debut, Weekend at Zuydcoote (1949), drew on his own experience as a prisoner of war during the Dunkirk evacuation and won the Prix Goncourt. It established him as a writer who could turn historical trauma into compelling fiction.
His standalone novels show remarkable range. Death Is My Trade (1954) is a fictionalized biography of Rudolf Höss, the commandant of Auschwitz. The Day of the Dolphin (1967) imagines dolphins trained for military purposes. Malevil (1972) follows a group of French villagers who survive a nuclear war in a medieval castle. Each book takes a different premise and genre, but Merle’s eye for human behavior under extreme pressure holds them together.
His largest project was Fortune de France, a 13-volume saga covering French history from the Wars of Religion through the 17th century. Written from 1977 to 2003, the series follows the Siorac family through decades of political and religious upheaval. It’s one of the great French historical fiction series, though only the first few volumes have been translated into English.