The Dreyfus affair — the infamous account of Jewish army officer and French citizen, Alfred Dreyfus, unjustly convicted of treason in 1894 — was the most significant political and social crisis of fin-de-siècle Europe. In the first book designed to introduce students to the broad outlines and significant legacies of the affair, the author deftly interweaves text with documents, tracing the course of events. He highlights the many issues connected with the case, including anti-Semitism, militant nationalism, socialism, the birth of modern Zionism, and the separation of church and state. Sixty-six documents are embedded in the narrative, offering students a broad range of sources to examine, including newspaper editorials, letters, trial testimony, and diary entries. A list of the principal characters is included in the appendices.
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Review
"In both his analysis and his choice of documents, Michael Burns has brilliantly captured all the complexity and the passion of the Dreyfus affair. I salute his achievement."
About the Author
Michael Burns (Ph.D., Yale University) is professor of modern European history at Mount Holyoke College and has taught at Yale University and the École des Hautes Études. His publications on the Dreyfus affair include Rural Society and French Politics: Boulangism and the Dreyfus Affair (1984) and Dreyfus: A Family Affair, from the French Revolution to the Holocaust (1992), which was awarded the Prix Bernard Lecache of the International League against Racism and Anti-Semitism. Burns serves as advisory editor for the Blackwell series New Perspectives on the Past.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very informative look at the Dreyfus Affairs,
By amazon fan (Lawrenceburg, KY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: France and the Dreyfus Affair: A Brief Documentary History (Bedford Series in History & Culture) (Paperback)
I read this book for a class on 19th century Europe. Burns has done a wonderful job of providing documentation showing both sides of the affair. I wish all historical events were analyzed and documented so completely. After reading this book I have a greater understanding of what led to the court martial of Alfred Dreyfus, the turmoil following his conviction, and the societal changes that continued to evolve through the first half of the 20th century. Great book!
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very unorthodox approach,
By Michael M (Israel - variously Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Petah Tiqwa) - See all my reviews
This review is from: France and the Dreyfus Affair: A Brief Documentary History (Bedford Series in History & Culture) (Paperback)
There are two interesting things about this book:
(1) It tries to view the Dreyfus affair from the perspective of (a) the entire period of 1789 to 1945, and (b) the entire Dreyfus family (it even includes a family tree!). (2) It is written like a novel, even though it is actually a history book. For example, beginning his discussion with Dreyfus's 18th century ancestors, Burns casually remarks on how one of these ancestors, being a butcher, must have had prodigious physical strength, and how (as per Jewish law and custom) he probably would sell the front half of the animal as kosher and sell the rear half to the gentiles due to the unkosher sinews (by contrast, Sephardi (Spanish and Middle Eastern) Jews tend to remove the individual sinews, a tedious process, and thereby render the rear half kosher). Burns also discusses the linguistic and cultural peculiarities of Ashkenazi (European) French Jewry in Alsance (of which Dreyfus's ancestors were a part), as contrasted with the French Sephardim (Spanish) in Bordeaux and Bayonnce, and how the French Enlightenment figures never doubted that the latter (being already acculturated to France) would be accorded emancipation, even as they were reluctant to emancipate the former (who were very insular). The result is a history book that flows like a novel and includes a fascinating amount of both human character and element (as per (1) above), as well as side details of daily life and thought (as per (2) above).
2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating,
By Sarah "Sarah" (USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: France and the Dreyfus Affair: A Brief Documentary History (Bedford Series in History & Culture) (Paperback)
A fascinating book. I read it for a college level 'discussion' class and this book sparked a lot of fun discussion. The France and Dreyfus Affair was a fascinating historical incident and this book is an excellent overview of it.
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