France and the Dreyfus Affair: A Documentary History (The Bedford Series in History and Culture) [Hardcover]

Michael Burns (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0312218133 | ISBN-13: 978-0312218133 | Publication Date: December 15, 1998

The Dreyfus affair--the famous account of French Jewish army officer Alfred Dreyfus unjustly convicted of treason in 1894--was the most significant political and social crisis of fin-de-siècle Europe. This book, designed to introduce the broad outlines and significant history, deftly interweaves text with documents, tracing the events of the affair and highlighting militant nationalism, socialism, the birth of modern Zionism, the separation of church and state, and the emergence of the "intellectual" in the political arena. The 66 documents offer a broad range of sources, including newspaper editorials, letters, trial testimony, and diary entries.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Burns's extensive commentary gives continuity and a concise but thorough accounting of related developments." --Teaching History

About the Author

Michael Burns is Professor of Modern European History at Mount Holyoke College.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan (December 15, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312218133
• ISBN-13: 978-0312218133
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,818,540 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

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, March 19, 2006

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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, November 15, 2009

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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, July 4, 2009

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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.