The Dreyfus Affair: The Scandal That Tore France in Two
*Starred Review* It began as a minor case of espionage when French intelligence was tipped off that an officer was peddling (mostly useless) information to the German Embassy in 1894. Before the Dreyfus Affair ended a decade later, an innocent man was sent to rot in a tropical hellhole, and France was torn apart over his case as wounds in the body politic, old and new, were exposed. Read, award-winning journalist and historian, has done a masterful job of explaining both what happened and why it happened. Contrary to popular misconceptions, the ordeals of Dreyfus, his family, and France were not triggered or sustained simply by anti-Semitism, although hatred of Jews was certainly a terrible factor. The affair also pitted secularists against Catholics, staunch supporters of republican governments against conservatives and monarchists, and literary figures on both sides of a cultural divide. Read offers wonderful portraits of the key figures in the unfolding tragedy, and he strives successfully to explain the motivations, fears, and hatred of both sides. This is a great re-examination of one of the most dramatic and consequential episodes in French history. --Jay Freeman