Edith Wharton and the Verdun Caper With 100 Rare Historical Photographs

Edith Wharton made five tours of the Allied sectors of the Western Front in the spring and summer of 1915. Her war-time tours fascinated her close friend Henry James. As a staunch anglophile, Henry conceives a plan whereby Mrs. Wharton would next tour German-occupied France as his agent d'espionage. Being a famous writer has advantages; she charms Kaiser Wilhelm into allowing her to join the entourage of his dissolute son, Crown Prince Wilhelm. The spy caper unfolds during the run-up to the battle of Verdun (early 1916), in the strange world behind German lines. When not chasing women or practicing Teutonic occult, Crown Prince Wilhelm leads his army into the cataclysmic battle, where there no winners, only casualties. Within this madness, Mrs. Wharton must somehow survive. The First World War was the first war with an extensive photographic record. Inexpensive but good quality cameras were widely available and simple to use. As a result, thousands of photographs record the places, events and personalities of the period. To visually take the reader back in time, we have incorporated some of the best of this material into our fictional story.