The Embrace of Unreason

December 16, 2013
After the 1870 concession of Alsace and Lorraine to Germany and the attendant drop in national morale, France began another political, societal, and artistic descent into instability. Brown (Zola) relies on lengthy biographical narratives of bloodthirsty socialist and nationalist Maurice Barres, fervent nationalist and royalist Charles Maurras, and other writer-activists to flesh out the larger story behind major 20th century French movements, resulting in mostly stand-alone sections best for readers already familiar with the key figures. Throughout, the fallout from the Dreyfus Affair and related anti-Semitism permeates the political sections even as many deplored the government’s public mishandling of the young man erroneously thrust into the center of the treason-based scandal. Simultaneously, widely divergent groups co-opted the quest for Joan of Arc’s canonization in the heat of thickening nationalist sentiment. Brown further illustrates the collective descent, as political murderers walked free and artists gleefully created prank-filled Dada pieces and Surrealist art. Brown’s version of France makes its occupation by longtime adversary and National Socialist Germany a nearly foregone conclusion. 51 illus. Agent: Georges Borchardt.

February 1, 2014
The author of Zola (1995) and Flaubert (2006) once again demonstrates his profound knowledge of French history, its people and their psyche. Brown's Soul of France: Culture Wars in the Age of Dreyfus (2010) showed France's struggle from the revolution into the Third Republic. Here, the author digs even deeper in the fight for minds beginning with the effects of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871. The rise of xenophobia after the loss of Alsace-Lorraine was as much an indication of anti-Semitism as anything else. The Third Republic, with its revolving door of ministers, only exacerbated the rise of extremists. Maurice Barres, a dedicated Boulangist, was radicalized by the Panama Canal Company scandal and the Dreyfus Affair, and he blamed the Jewish syndicate. Together with Charles Maurras, he founded Action Francaise, a monarchist newspaper that attempted to destroy every political adversary with slander campaigns. As editor in chief, Leon Daudet completed the unholy trinity devoted to yellow journalism, using fear as the weapon of choice. His youth organization, the Camelots du Roi, was only one of the militant leagues that turned demonstrations into blood baths. The onset of World War I further fed the young intellectuals' fears and obsessions, and Joan of Arc became their symbol of patriotism. Men like Pierre Drieu, who marched to war with the works of Nietzsche in his knapsack, and Andre Breton led the surrealists in their quest for the annihilation of being. Brown explores all the great and complicated minds of this period, including socialists, communists, fascists, royalists and radicals. Francophiles will love this book, but the roiling currents of philosophical and political ideas may daunt some readers. Read this illuminating book to see frightening similarities to the early years of the 21st century. The lies, innuendo, invented evidence and baseless arguments are all too familiar.

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Starred review from March 1, 2014
Notwithstanding the cultural brilliance of the Belle Epoque, the first half of the twentieth century was, in many ways, disastrous for France. It included the physical and human destruction of the Great War, the failed diplomacy of the interwar years, the rapid military collapse in WWII, and the shame of the Vichy regime. As this superb study reveals, these disasters were directly linked to a political and cultural rot that permeated all levels of French society. On the eve of WWI, France was still racked by unresolved issues carried over from the previous decades. The hatreds engendered by the Dreyfus affair, the conflicts between Catholics and secularists, and the riffs between staunch republicans and monarchists were still fought out in the popular press, literary organs, and sometimes in the streets. On a more fundamental level, Brown describes a retreat from the rationalism of the Enlightenment and an embrace of emotionalism and romantic nostalgia among French elites. This was manifested in an exclusionary nationalism, virulent anti-Semitism, and a general distrust of pluralistic democracy. This is a riveting portrait of a society weakened by internal decay.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)

November 1, 2013

Ah, France, home of the Enlightenment, where art, reason, and humanist tradition reign. In fact, distinguished cultural historian Brown shows how these ideals collapsed in the wake of World War I, replaced by xenophobia, militarism, and authoritarian belief.

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