For the Soul of France: Culture Wars in the Age of Dreyfus (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780307279217)

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.

Author: Frederick Brown
ISBN-10: 0307279219
ISBN-13: 9780307279217
Publisher: Anchor Books
Language: English
Published: 02/08/2011
Pages: 336
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.75lbs
Size: 7.90h x 5.20w x 0.70d

Review Citation(s):
New York Times Book Review 02/13/2011 pg. 30