In Search of Lost Time's final volume depicts the years leading up to World War I, when Paris, as M. de Charlus reflects on a moonlit stroll, threatens to become another Pompeii. After the battle, Proust's narrator returns to Paris, where Mme. Verdurin has been elevated to the role of Princesse de Guermantes. Time, truth, envy, creative development, and the raw material for literature-his past life-all come into play for him. The Guide to Proust, an index to all six volumes of the book, is also included in this edition.