|
Dreyfus: Politics, Emotion, and the Scandal of the Century by Ruth Harris (hardcover)
|
|
The definitive history of the infamous scandal that shook a nation and stunned the world.
In
1894, Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish officer in the French army, was
wrongfully convicted of spying for Germany and imprisoned on Devil’s
Island. Over the next few years, France was torn apart as attempts to
correct the injustice broke up families, set off anti-Semitic riots, and
came close to triggering a coup d’etat.
Drawing upon thousands of
previously unconsidered sources, Ruth Harris goes beyond the
conventional narrative of truth-loving left-wing democrats mobilizing
against right-wing proto-Fascists to explain how violently reactionary
forces could overtake a country that viewed itself as the flagship of
progressive enlightenment. She shows how complex emotions and
interlocking influences—the tension between the military and the
intellectuals, the clashing demands of justice and nationalism, and a
tangled web of personal connections—shaped both the coalitions working
to free Dreyfus and the alliances seeking to protect the army that had
convicted him.
Sweeping and engaging, Dreyfus offers a new understanding of one of the most contested and consequential moments in modern history.
|
Product Reviews
|
|
|