This is the first of three DLB volumes to cover French literature of the 20th century. During this period, the modern French novel played the role of an instrument of social change while also reacting to change. As the individual essays in DLB Volume 65 reveal, the greatest historical upheavals of the 20th century - world war, class struggles, colonial unrest, revolutions and economic crises -- became the topics of numerous novels. The predominant literary movement of the era was toward looser forms and an ideological drift away from authoritarian structures and standards, questioning all inherited values. 23 entries include: Andre Breton, Colette (Sidonie Gabrielle Colette), Jacques de Lacretelle, Georges Duhamel, Andre Gide, Francois Mauriac, Roger Martin du Gard, Charles-Louis Philippe, Paul Morand, Marcel Proust, Romain Rolland, Jules Romains.