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In December 1894, Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a brilliant French artillery officer and a Jew of Alsatian descent, was court-martialed for selling secrets to the German military attaché in Paris based on perjured testimony and trumped-up evidence. The sentence was military degradation and life imprisonment on Devil's Island, a hellhole off the coast of French Guiana. Five years later, the case was overturned, and eventually Dreyfus was completely exonerated. Meanwhile, the Dreyfus Affair tore show more France apart, pitting Dreyfusards-committed to restoring freedom and honor to an innocent man convicted of a crime committed by another-against nationalists, anti-Semites, and militarists who preferred having an innocent man rot to exposing the crimes committed by ministers of war and the army's top brass in order to secure Dreyfus's conviction.Was the Dreyfus Affair merely another instance of the rise in France of a virulent form of anti-Semitism? In Why the Dreyfus Affair Matters, the acclaimed novelist draws upon his legal expertise to create a riveting account of the famously complex case, and to remind us of the interest each one of us has in the faithful execution of laws as the safeguard of our liberties and honor. show lessTags
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Author Information
27+ Works 2,416 Members
Louis Begley previous novels are Wartime Lies, The Man Who Was late, As max Saw It, About Schmidt, and Mistler's Exit. He lives in New York City. (Bowker Author Biography)
Awards and Honors
Distinctions
Series
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Why the Dreyfus Affair Matters
- Original publication date
- 2009-09-22
- People/Characters
- Alfred Dreyfus; Georges Picquart
- Important events
- Dreyfus Affair
Classifications
- Genres
- History, Nonfiction, General Nonfiction, Politics and Government, Religion & Spirituality
- DDC/MDS
- 944.081 — History & geography History of Europe France and Monaco France Third republic 1870- Third Republic 1870-1945 ; XXth Century
- LCC
- DC354 .B44 — History of Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania France – Andorra – Monaco History of France Modern, 1515- 19th century Later 19th century
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 127
- Popularity
- 256,440
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.32)
- Languages
- English, German, Portuguese
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 7
- ASINs
- 4
