Léon DAUDET (1867-1942) Autograph manuscript, L'Hécatombe, [1923]; 192 fol. pages (tear on 1st leaf). Complete manuscript of this book on the 1914 war This book of "stories and memories" (according to the subtitle) was published by the Nouvelle Librairie Nationale at the end of May 1923. It comprises ten chapters and a conclusion: I How the war came about; II The rise of the big lies. First defeats. The panic of the greedy. The dictatorship of Joffre and the victory of the Marne; III The scattering of the "vermin of the world"; IV How the synchronism between the two German thrusts was established: the one from within, the one from without; V Revolution in France or in Russia? France inoculated; VI The drama of the Mutinies (May-June-July 1917); VII The inadequacy of the Presidents of the Council during three years of war; VIII The "Chèque Duval" thunderbolt; IX The first six months of the Clemenceau cabinet (November 17-May 27, 18); X The Malvy trial and the second victory of the Marne (July 1918); Concluding thoughts. The manuscript is complete, with erasures and corrections, and press clippings pasted into the text.