Rush to Gold: The French and the California Gold Rush, 1848–1854 by Malcolm j Rohrbough (review)

emphasis is placed increasingly on Buzot himself. She provides an excellent perspective to show that what occurred in France between 1789 and 1794 took many unexpected and dramatic turns and that the lives of “ordinary” people like Buzot were violently impacted in unforeseeable ways. Buzot was an attorney in Évreux who, out of a sense of patriotism and civic duty, accepted election to the Estates-General (which became the Constituent Assembly) in the spring of 1789 and then to the National Convention in September 1792. He was a moderate and a defender of the rights of the individual citizen, but he was from the beginning skeptical about the possibility of reconciling the new political regime with the existing monarchy. He thus leaned toward the establishment of a republic.In the National Convention,he became associated with the Girondin group of delegates.He had already become acquainted with the Interior Minister Roland. Buzot and Roland’s wife Manon fell passionately in love. Their relationship remained platonic,however,because of circumstances and their sense of virtue.They did exchange several intense love letters, but only those written by Madame Roland survived. What survived from Buzot’s writings is a memoir or apologia which he penned during the last months of his life. The manuscript is in the Bibliothèque nationale in Paris and served as one of the principal sources of information used by Oliver. Seeing the events of 1792–94 from the point of view of this single individual makes one realize how out of control everything became after the monarchy was abolished.The ideological conflict in the national legislature between the more moderate Girondins and the radical Jacobins grew within a few months into a violent civil war in which political opponents were either executed as traitors by the dominant faction or driven into flight. Buzot was among the latter. In only four years his tranquil and affluent provincial existence was utterly destroyed. He went from being a respected member of his community to a fugitive from justice, an enemy of the people condemned by his own fellow townsmen. Oliver traces his escape route from Caen to Quimper to Saint-Émilion. It was during this time between June 1793 and the spring of 1794 that he wrote his life story and selfjustification .After the execution of his beloved Manon,he eventually gave up on life and committed suicide.There are several ironies in Buzot’s story.He who was such a staunch defender of freedom of the press was vilified in the radical gutter journals of Marat, Hébert,and others.Robespierre,his most ardent persecutor,was once a friend and fellow member of the Roland circle.Finally,almost everyone involved in Buzot’s political career, both ally and foe, came to a violent end by the summer of 1794. University of Denver James P. Gilroy Rohrbough,Malcolm J. Rush to Gold: The French and the California Gold Rush, 1848– 1854. New Haven: Yale UP, 2013. ISBN 978-0-300-18140-1. Pp. xi + 342. $45. Although not widely known among Americans, French involvement in the California gold rush was extensive. Rohrbough delves into every stage of the gold rush 248 FRENCH REVIEW 89.3 Reviews 249 drama as it was perceived and experienced by the French. The news first reached Paris in late 1848, the momentous year of the revolution that led to the creation of a republic, when economic conditions were dire. The discovery fascinated the French public and they embraced gold fever with enthusiasm. The distance was daunting; the voyage of twelve thousand miles around Cape Horn required about five months. Yet all over France, dozens of investment companies sprang up to provide ships and supplies for prospectors ready to set sail for California. Since payment was required to embark, the companies catered to the middle and upper classes, most of whom planned to return to France. A year later, authorities with ulterior motives rashly decided to organize a lottery to raise money to send more ships, and the infamous Lottery of the Golden Ingots became a drama of its own. The lottery was ridden with irregularities and accusations of corruption, but eventually seven ships were financed...