This book opens crucial new perspectives on the vexing question of chronology in Flaubert's work. Claire Addison argues that Flaubert's manipulation of dates is deliberate, and that what have previously been dismissed as inadvertent errors are in fact evidence of the strong presence of Flaubert's personal mythology in his work, creating links among his family life, events in historical Europe, and events in the life of his literary characters. Her reading sheds new light on the subtle and complex interplay between the life and work of the author.