The History of a Crime [Paperback]

Victor Hugo (Author), Arthur Locker (Translator), T. H. Joyce (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2007

Though the great French novelist, poet and dramatist Victor Hugo's work has gone in and out of favor since his death in 1885, few have ever forgotten his masterpiece, Les Miserables nor that he is the author to have created the "Hunchback" of Notre Dame. The collected works of Victor Hugo encompass eighteen 1,500 page manuscripts -- almost more than any one reader could possibly encompass. Victor Hugo's life spanned the 19th century in France, from Napoleon Bonaparte to the Republics to revolution and coup 'd etat. When Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte (later to become Napoleon III) was elected President of France in 1849, Victor Hugo was originally elected a deputy to the new regime. But "le petit" Napoleon's ambitions soon led to Hugo's firm opposition. He left France for an nineteen-year exile, during which time he wrote Histoire d'un Crime, or The History of a Crime, which tells the story of Napoleon III's accession to power -- the book was first published in 1877, following Hugo's eventual return to France from his two-decade exile.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Victor-Marie Hugo is known abroad for his novels, especially Les Mis_rables and Notre-Dame de Paris, but in France for his poetry and plays. More a leftist with each passing year, he was forced into exile during the reign of Napoleon III and lived briefly in Belgium. Hugo was a political man, speaking out against the death penalty and in favor of pacifism and freedom of the press. In his youth, he was a Catholic but later was a Spiritualist and a Deist. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 396 pages
• Publisher: Aegypan (April 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1603121781
• ISBN-13: 978-1603121781
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating document and captivating documentary novel, May 18, 2005

By 

Peter Dale (New York, NY, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: History of a Crime (The Testimony of an Eye-Witness) (Paperback)

Victor Hugo's long and chequered life was filled with experiences of the most diverse character - literature and politics, the court and the street, parliament and the theatre, labour, struggles, disappointments, exile and triumphs.

Victor Hugo's HISTOIRE D'UN CRIME (History of a Crime - The Testimony of an Eye-Witness) is an impassioned recording of the December 1852 coup d'etat that brought the usurper he called "Napoleon le petit" to power, and sent Hugo into an eighteen year exile. The work was written in the few months following Hugo's flight, but only published in 1877, when Hugo feared a similar takeover by Marechal Mac-Mahon, who had threatened the dissolution of the republican-dominated Chambre des deputes (parliament).

During his exile on the island of Guernsey, he completed, among others, his longest and most famous work, Les Misérables (1862), and also The Man Who Laughs (L'Homme qui rit; 1869), also known as "By Order of the King", a historic novel with fictional characters, set in England 1688-1705.

Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte (1808-1873), the main character of "History of a Crime", was elected President (1848 - 1852) of the Second Republic of France, and subsequently accepted the title of the Emperor (1852 - 1870), reigning as Napoléon III.