The Marne‪:‬

Edith Wharton's The Marne traces a boy's education in privilege, war, and disillusionment against the glittering backdrop of prewar Europe and the devastation that follows. Troy Belknap, an American child of travel and comfort, grows up enchanted by France's villages, cathedrals, and hidden roads, but World War I transforms his love of place into a fierce moral and emotional awakening. When his beloved tutor is called to the front, Troy is thrown into the chaos of St. Moritz and Paris, where refugees, ruined towns, and the German advance expose the selfish anxieties of wealthy expatriates. He tries to help, buys food, and longs to do something meaningful, yet finds himself trapped by youth while others reduce catastrophe to passports, luggage, and social prestige. As the war continues, Troy's visit to the Marne battlefield and the grave of Paul Gantier reveals the intimate cost beneath public heroics. Back in America, he grows contemptuous of fashionable war talk, even as his own longing for France deepens into a belief in civilization, courage, and sacrifice. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.