Review copy, stamped as such.
Signed presentation inscription: “À Pierre Descaves, ce témoignage de notre jeunesse blessée, son ami dévoué, Henry Malherbe.”
Nearly three decades after winning the Prix Goncourt in 1917, Henry Malherbe republished La Flamme au poing in an edition profoundly marked by the twin traumas of the two World Wars. The original text is preceded by a new essay, “Vues sur la guerre 1914–1945,” in which the author, a survivor of both conflicts, reflects on the sacrificed ideals of his generation.
This 1945 edition casts new light on the original work, situating the heroic events of 1914–1918 within the dramatic continuity of the twentieth century.
The inscription to Pierre Descaves — writer and committed politician, and son of Lucien Descaves, who had awarded the book its Prix Goncourt — further enhances the copy’s commemorative significance.
From the “Prix Goncourt” library of Gérard Pouguet, with bookplate.