Honoré de Balzac's effort to emulate Walter Scott, the master of the historical novel, and his ability to transform the past into a vivid present is particularly evident in the novel "The Chouans." The story is set in 1799 in Brittany, where the peasantry, fanatical due to old-believing clergy and royalist emigrants, waged a relentless guerrilla war against the republican soldiers of Consul Bonaparte. They ambush stagecoaches, rob travelers, and punish real and perceived traitors to their cause in secret courts. The clash between the defenders of the Ancien Régime and those of the new Republic is not depicted in dry words; Balzac's powerful portrayals of the era provide compelling vividness. Against the backdrop of this bloody struggle unfolds a dramatic love story.