WARNING
This novel is based on extensive historical research, including the rare Chinese testimonies that have survived, British and French military reports, contemporary journalist accounts, and European museum archives. Although some characters are fictional as individuals, their experiences and actions are based on actual survivor accounts. Details about objects, buildings, and events are as historically accurate as available sources permit. The Summer Palace was truly one of the world's architectural wonders, and its destruction represents one of the greatest cultural losses of the 19th century.
The original version, written in French, has been translated into several foreign languages. Translated versions may contain linguistic errors, misunderstandings, or approximations.
English Version
Pillage
Robert Casanovas
casanovas@hotmail.com
Legal deposit December 2025 – Digital ebook and paperback version
© 2025 Casanovas. All rights reserved
ISBN: 9791098073199
www.international-restitutions.org
Cover: The restored Old Summer Palace – China Information 2025
By the same author: The stolen room (novel)
The testament was au forgery (novel)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Prologue
Chapter 1: The Road of Infamy
Chapter 2: The Treasure of the Son of Heaven
Chapter 3: The Silent Witnesses
Chapter 4: The Journey
Epilogue
PILLAGE
PROLOGUE
Paris, November 4, 1859
The cobblestones of Rue Saint-Dominique glistened under a fine rain that transformed Paris into a tableau of greyness. General Charles Guillaume Cousin de Montauban stood before the window, hands behind his back, watching the passersby hurrying beneath their umbrellas.
Behind him, Marshal Randon, Minister of War, leafed through documents with a mechanical gesture. The silence stretched between them, punctuated by the creaking of the floorboards and the occasional rustling of a page. Randon raised his head, his bushy eyebrows furrowed.
"Montauban," he said in a grave voice, "the Emperor is entrusting you with a mission that far exceeds the scope of an ordinary military expedition."
The general pivoted toward him. His chiseled face, marked by campaigns in Africa, remained impassive. His blue eyes, of a disturbing clarity, settled on the minister.
"I am ready to serve the Empire wherever it may be, Monsieur le Maréchal. China frightens me no more than the Algerian deserts."
Randon sketched a smile. He rose from his armchair—his corpulence made each movement laborious—and approached a vast map displayed on an adjacent table. It showed the Chinese Empire in all its extent, an immense territory marked with strange characters and approximate tracings.
