Alsace in rust and gold

War is ending, but peace has not yet settled. Written as a day-by-day journal during October and November 1918, this first-person account follows an observer travelling from Paris towards the Alsace front, where reconquered territory stands between military control and restored civil life. The immediacy of the diary form captures a region confronting shell damage, displacement and loss even as the Armistice brings celebration and profound uncertainty.

Beyond the trenches lies the intricate work of wartime administration. The French Military Administrative Mission must govern communities emerging from occupation, negotiate its dealings with Alsatian civilians and re-establish French institutions and culture amid the continuing presence of troops. This unusual perspective distinguishes the memoir from a conventional battlefield narrative: military occupation is seen not only through front-line sectors, cemeteries and damaged towns, but through the practical and human questions raised when authority changes hands.

Close observation gives the wider historical transition a vivid local scale. Churches and architecture, religious traditions, food, customs and officers' social life share the journal with refugees, shelling and remembrance, while the valleys and towns of the region remain marked by both civilian and military experience. The blend of wartime travel narrative and administrative record preserves the tension between sorrow and ceremony, destruction and renewal, without separating public events from everyday life. This book was out of print for decades and is now republished by Alpha Editions.
It has been restored for today's and future generations.
This edition is not just a reprint - it's a collector's item and a cultural treasure.