Winner of the Wolfson History Prize 2010 and the 2010 National Jewish Book Award for Biography At the end of September 1894 a charlady stole an undated and unsigned letter from the wastepaper bin of the German military attach??? in Paris. Torn to pieces but stuck back together by French intelligence, this document contained French military secrets. By the middle of October a Jewish captain in the army called Alfred Dreyfus was accused of being its author. As it turned out, he was entirely innocent, but at the time few ...
Read More
Winner of the Wolfson History Prize 2010 and the 2010 National Jewish Book Award for Biography At the end of September 1894 a charlady stole an undated and unsigned letter from the wastepaper bin of the German military attach??? in Paris. Torn to pieces but stuck back together by French intelligence, this document contained French military secrets. By the middle of October a Jewish captain in the army called Alfred Dreyfus was accused of being its author. As it turned out, he was entirely innocent, but at the time few questioned the verdict of the subsequent court martial, nor the unanimous decision to sentence him to a life of penal servitude. Public opinion was outraged, and the War Minister, General Auguste Mercier, asked for the reintroduction of the death penalty so Dreyfus could be guillotined. Although the request was turned down, Dreyfus was still subjected to special conditions: rather than going to New Caledonia like other transported convicts, he was sent to the much harsher Devil's Island off the coast of French Guiana, and condemned to solitary confinement in murderous conditions. The French authorities did not expect - and probably did not want - him to survive. So undisputed was Dreyfus' conviction that no one had any inkling it would be queried, let alone that the case would become the scandal that nearly brought down the French state. It changed the political course of the nation and transformed the way the country viewed itself and was viewed by others. In The Man on Devil's Island Ruth Harris writes beautifully and engagingly on a moment in French history that polarized society and undermined the French state; its repercussions were felt up to the outbreak of the Second World War.
Read Less
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
New. 2011. Paperback. At the end of September 1894 a charlady stole an undated and unsigned letter from the wastepaper bin of the German military attache in Paris. Torn to pieces but stuck back together by French intelligence, this document contained French military secrets. This title discusses a moment in French history. Num Pages: 560 pages, Illustrations. BIC Classification: 1DDF; 3JH; BGH; HBJD; HBLL. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 198 x 130 x 25. Weight in Grams: 380......We ship daily from our Bookshop.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
Fine in fine dust jacket. First Edition. A hardback First Edition in very Fine condition, in a Fine price-clipped dustjacket. Becoming scarce. This book is in stock now, in our UK premises. Photos of our books are available on request (the pictures you see on Alibris are NOT our own).