This is the first book-length study of the rich operatic repertory written and performed in France during the last two decades of the nineteenth century. Steven Huebner gives an accessible and colourful account of such operatic favourites as Manon and Wether by Massenet, Louise by Charpentier, and lesser-known gems such as Chabrier's Le Roi malgre lui and Chausson's Le Roi Arthus.