France, Anatole: Penguin Island, v.1, 5 Feb 2008.
 

For some reason I was imperceptibly drawn to this epic saga of penguin civilisation, which I found on PG. I have restored a lot of accents, added curly quotes and hyperlinked the footnotes.

No translator’s name was given.


From Wikipedia:

Penguin Island (L'Île des Pingouins) is a satirical novel by Anatole France first published in 1908.
The book details the history of the penguins and is written as a critique of human nature, and is also a satire on France's political history, including the Dreyfus affair.
Morals, customs and laws are satirised within the context of the fictional land of Penguinia, where the animals were baptised erroneously by the myopic Abbot Maël. The book is ultimately concerned with the perfectibility of mankind.
As soon as the Penguins are transformed into humans, they begin robbing and murdering each other. By the end of the book, a thriving civilization is destroyed by terrorist bombs.