The Deprat affair - Roger Osborne

Gripping detective story, fascinating social history, and intense human drama, The Deprat Affair recreates the hothouse atmosphere of colonial Indo-China in the early 20th century. Among its bitter rivalries, its nepotism, and favors, how are we to disentangle the scientific, the moral, and the legal truths of the affair? En route to a golden future as one of France’s greatest geologists, Jacques Deprat is suddenly accused of fraud and plunged into a desperate fight to save his reputation. Thrown out of the science to which he has given everything, he reinvents himself, changes his name, and begins not one, but two fascinating lives?each as extraordinary and colorful as the one left behind. Innocent or guilty, Jacques Deprat is an astonishing figure, whose capacity to overcome international disgrace and the dissolution of his dreams makes an amazing and captivating story.