L'Éducation sentimentale begun in 1843 and finished after two substantial interruptions in
1845 was Flaubert's first attempt at a full-scale novel. Though overshadowed by the 1869 novel
of the same title it is a crucially important text in Flaubert's literary development. Alan
Raitt provides a controversial new reading of the book's genesis and development and addresses
many of the misapprehensions that have grown up around this pivotal work.