Honoré de Balzac (1799 - 1850) was a French novelist and playwright. His great work was a series of short stories and novels collectively entitled La Comédie Humaine, which gives a picture of swathes of French society in the years after the 1815 fall of Napoleon Bonaparte. Balzac had plenty of experiences to draw upon, he had been an apprentice in a law office, a publisher, printer, businessman, critic, and politician and failed at all of these pursuits. The novels reveal his difficulties with all these careers. Many of these books have been adapted for the screen and to this day they are a source of inspiration for writers, filmmakers and critics. This volume includes sixteen works in La Comédie Humaine, in their recommended reading order: Ferragus, Chief Of The Devorants, The Message, Colonel Chabert, Facino Cane, Two Poets, A Distinguished Provincial At Paris, Eve And David, La Grenadiere, Massimilla Doni, The Lily Of The Valley, Melmoth Reconciled, The Atheist's Mass, The Jealousies Of A Country Town, An Old Maid, The Collection Of Antiquities, A Drama On The Seashore