For the Soul of France: Culture Wars in the Age of Dreyfus

In the aftermath of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, a defeated and humiliated France split into cultural factions that ranged from those who embraced modernity to those who championed the restoration of throne and altar. This polarization--to which such iconic monuments as the Sacre-Coeur and the Eiffel Tower bear witness--intensified with a succession of grave events over the following decades: the crash of an investment bank founded to advance Catholic interests; the failure of the Panama Canal Company; the fraudulent charge of treason brought against a Jewish officer, Alfred Dreyfus, which resulted in a civil war between his zealous supporters and fanatical antagonists.

In this brilliant reconsideration of what fostered the rise of fascism and anti-Semitism in twentieth-century Europe, Frederick Brown chronicles the intense struggle for the soul of a nation, and shows how France's deep fractures led to its surrender to Hitler's armies in 1940.

Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Anchor Books
Published: 02/08/2011
ISBN: 9780307279217
Pages: 336
Weight: 0.75lbs
Size: 7.90h x 5.20w x 0.70d

Review Citations: New York Times Book Review 02/13/2011 pg. 30