The Affair: The Case of Alfred Dreyfus
by Jean-Denis Bredin

List Price: $19.95
Our Price: $12.99
You Save: $6.96 (35%)
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy Used: from $3.03 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions

Book Summary Information

Book Reviews of The Affair: The Case of Alfred Dreyfus

Book Review: A gripping tale
Summary: 5 Stars

There are several distinct reasons to recommend reading "The Affair." First and foremost, it is an incredible and sobering story. The plot is filled with so much drama, so many eccentric and historically significant characters, bizarre twists of fate and intrigue that by the time you reach the denouement of Dreyfus' acquittal it is nearly impossible to believe that what you are reading actually happened.

Second, even with a century's worth of perspective, there are still many debatable points about the Affair. For instance, it has been often repeated that had Dreyfus not been Dreyfus, he would have been Anti-Dreyfus. Bredin explicitly rejects this thesis, but after reading his book I must respectfully disagree. There is much about the Dreyfus Affair that is alternatively poignant, ironic, and tragic. That Dreyfus was personally imbued with and adhered to the principles and cause of his chief adversaries - namely a devotion to hierarchy and order, an unflinching loyalty to the Army and his superiors, and fervent nationalism - is one of them. Ultimately, whether the traitor was guilty or not was beside the point. During the course of the Affair, the Old Regime and its honored institutions, the Army and the Catholic Church above all, were pitted against the agents of Revolution. The Dreyfus that Bredin describes would never have deserted the cause of the Army and national honor to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the radical leftist elements that made up the Dreyfusard community.

Finally, the Affair also serves as a cautionary tale for modern readers. The themes that dominated late nineteenth century France - the imminent threat of war with a long-time rival, agitated nationalism in the wake of a national tragedy, reactionary xenophobia and racial profiling - are not foreign to early twenty-first century Americans. It is important to remember that the Dreyfus Affair began quite accidentally; it was the mood of the nation that served as the tinderbox that lit the conflagration. There was circumstantial evidence pointing to Dreyfus as the author of a letter written to the German military attaché in Paris. That evidence was further supported by prejudice that expected an Alsatian Jew to be a traitor. When the French General Staff embarked on their mission to fabricate evidence against Dreyfus, it was with the complete conviction that they had the guilty party and merely wanted to ensure that he was appropriately punished. That first legal transgression, which seemed rather innocuous at the time, was the root of the conflict, for in order to save itself from that first indiscretion greater illegalities had to be committed. It is not impossible to envision something like this happening domestically in the United States in the course of the War on Terror. Let us pray it never does.

Few books have as much to offer as "The Affair." It is a truly superlative work.

France Books

• Books > Subjects > History > Europe