La Bete Humaine (1890), the seventeenth novel in the Rougon-Marcquart series, is one of Zola's most violent and explicit works. On one level a tale of murder, passion, and possession, it is also a compassionate study of individuals derailed by atavistic forces beyond their control. This new translation captures Zola's fast-paced yet deliberately dispassionate style, while the Introduction and detailed Notes place the novel in its social, historical, and literary context.