The Dreyfus Affair and the Rise of the French Public Intellectual by Tom Conner (review)

Reviews 239 the evolution of the zone as a metaphor in these works. Forty-seven spectacular color plates complement Cannon’s findings and bring his interpretations to life. One of the most outstanding features of the book, are high-quality plates of historic maps of Paris showing its fortifications and suburbs, reproductions of paintings and engravings, lithographs, sketches from contemporary newspapers, and photographs. Each chapter describes the political and cultural history of a particular period, from the zone’s initial construction before 1870 through its destruction between 1940 and 1944. From each era, Cannon identifies a broad variety of artistic representations of the zone revealing how perceptions of it were both negative and positive throughout history. The period from 1870 to 1889 was a time in which complex perceptions of the zone reflected changes in society and the growth of modernity. After the Franco-Prussian war, differing representations of the zone reflected the political and social divisions that came with the Third Republic and were deepened by the Paris Commune. In the 1890–1918 era, conservative-leaning artists and writers emphasized the criminal elements of the region, while more progressive thinkers used it to highlight the humanity of the working class. The author provides analyses of visual art and excerpts from several novels by both well-known and obscure writers and artists. In studying these texts, Cannon reveals how various myths developed around the zone. Several themes emerge such as national identity, war, social harmony, public health, slumming, religion, ragpickers , and others. The depth of Cannon’s research is impressive, drawing on archives and resources in many fields. Although the original zone was destroyed years ago, the issue of marginalized populations living in makeshift shelters on the peripheries of Paris and other large cities makes this a significant and relevant study today. Texas Christian University Sharon L. Fairchild Conner, Tom. The Dreyfus Affair and the Rise of the French Public Intellectual. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2014. ISBN 978-0-7864-7862-0. Pp. 274. $55. While it is certainly difficult to find something new to say about a historical event whose bibliography “now stands at 1,200 titles” (26), the exceptional status of the Dreyfus Affair requires that its story be retold every few years. What started as a miscarriage of justice developed into a protracted struggle over national selfdefinition : “Which direction would France take? Forward, on the road to modernity, into the twentieth century, or backward, back to an old, traditional France that had resisted the advent of modernity?”(230). Conner’s book, aimed at“the general reader” (33), is notable for its emphases on the Affair’s aftermath and on its enduring relevance . In his quest for parallels with our time, Conner often ranges too far afield, decrying the “media circus” that accompanied such well-known events as the O.J. Simpson trial or the death of Michael Jackson (43). In some cases, this leads to minor mistakes, such as identifying Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the former“Prime Minister” of Iran (43), or attributing a famous Clermont-Tonnerre quote to Robespierre (107). In other cases, the historical parallels established in this book are less than obvious: “the Franco-Prussian War [...] was to the anti-Dreyfusards what 9-11 would be to the neo-con alliance that plunged the U.S. into the abyss of war in Iraq” (39). The quest for modern relevance also leads to a reduced emphasis on historical contextualization. Even though he points out in a note that “cognates can be confusing” (252), Conner presents “moderates and radicals” (45) without previously mentioning the Parti radical.Also, it is somewhat misleading to say that the novelist Maurice Barrès, a député with a long political career, was not “a political activist” (191). It is for that matter surprising that the section on Barrès (164–69) does not mention Scènes et doctrines du nationalisme (1902). As for Maupassant, who died in 1893, he is inexplicably labelled an “anti-Dreyfusard” (195). Many readers will find a lack of perspective or balance in the statement that, due to “Prime Minister Combes’s anti-clericalism [...] Catholics in the military and in government were being persecuted just as Dreyfus and...