Blood in the City: Violence and Revelation in Paris, 1789–1945

Richard D. E. Burton

Published by Cornell University Press 2001

Blood in the City

Violence and Revelation in Paris, 1789–1945

Richard D. E. Burton

https://doi.org/10.7591/9781501722448

Overview
Contents

About this book

The Terror of 1793-94, the Paris Commune of 1871, the Dreyfus Affair—explosions of violence punctuated French history from the start of the Revolution until the Liberation at the close of World War II. The distinguished scholar Richard D. E. Burton...

Author / Editor information

Richard D. E. Burton has recently retired as Professor of French and Francophone Literature at the University of Sussex. He is the author of Afro-Creole: Power, Opposition, and Play in the Caribbean, also from Cornell, and of two books on Baudelaire.

Reviews

Eric A. Arnold Jr., University of Denver:

Without the slightest doubt, this is one of the best and most thoroughly enjoyable books that I have read in a considerable period of time. Burton has, in Blood in the City, provided the thoughtful and curious reader an outstanding read that is well worth the time to peruse it.... I enthusiastically recommend this superb book to all students of French history, as well as to the serious tourist who intends to visit Paris.... Blood in the City would be an excellent addition to academic libraries, particularly those that support study abroad in Paris, and medium to large libraries.

Stanley Hoffmann, Harvard University:

This astonishing and compelling book is both a graphic study of the many forms and waves of violence that have swept Paris since 1789, and a subtle, imaginative interpretation of the bloody rituals that have marked the long contest between embittered Catholics and anticlericals still deeply marked by France's catholic culture.

Bertrand Taithe, University of Manchester:

One of the most engaging features of the book is the way in which it recasts religion as a central interpretative agent of nineteenth-century French history... Stimulating and interesting.

Burton evokes the temper of those vitriolic times through skillful analysis of the works of the Parisian literati... to prove that the storming of the Bastille unleashed a legacy of violent political upheavals.... Provocative.... This unique work is a worthwhile purchase for both academic and public libraries.

Mark Ford, Author of Raymond Roussel and the Republic of Dreams:

Blood in the City presents an enthralling account of the atavistic myths underpinning the series of bloody revolutions that, paradoxically, ended up turning Paris into the crucible of modernity. Through his brilliant analysis of Paris's cultural, political, and literary history, Richard D. E. Burton has created a seamless and gripping narrative that makes compelling sense of a century and a half of Parisian violence.

Edmund White:

An extraordinary recent book is Richard D. E. Burton's Blood in the City, a chilling and erudite study of lynching, execution, suicide and murder in Paris, including events from the decapitation of Louis XVI to the assassination and executions of the postwar épuration.

Martin Hurcombe, University of Bristol:

The outstanding achievement of this work is that its author revitalizes the Parisian landscape through a highly accessible and well-written account of cultural history. It therefore succeeds both as narrative and as an academic study deserving to feature prominently on the reading list of any student of French cultural history as well as that of any informed visitor to Paris.

An intricate, absorbing, and multi-faceted analysis of the literary, political, and cultural fury that animated Paris during the years of the 19th and 20th centuries.... Rewarding to the very last syllable, Blood in the City is a testament to outstanding historical scholarship.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Illustrations Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Preface Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
1. PARIS A VOL D'OISEAU (1789-1914) Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
2. VIOLENT ORIGINS: The Taking of the Bastille (July 1789) Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	26
3. KILLING THE KING: Place de la Révolution/Concorde (21 January 1793) Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	41
4. VENDOME/INVALIDES: The Paris of the Bonapartes (1802-1871) Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	72
5. HEART OF THE CITY: Place de Crève/Hotel de Ville ( 1789-1871) Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	90
6. THE MIRACULOUS MEDAL: Rue du Bac (1830) Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	118
7. KILLING THE LIVING, BURYING THE DEAD: Père-Lachaise (1804-1945) Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	130
8. CONVERSION?: Paul Claude! at Notre-Dame (Christmas 1886) Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	149
9. CHURCH PROWLING: The Back-to-Front Pilgrimage of Joris-Karl Huysmans (1884-1892) Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	159
10. MARBLE VERSUS IRON: Sacré-Croeur and the Eiffel Tower (1871-1914) Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	174
11. OPERATION SPRING BREEZE: Rue des Rosiers, Vel' d'Hiv', Drancy (July-August 1942) Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	206
12. PURGING THE CITY: Paris Libre (August 1944-0ctober 1945) Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	232
13. CONCLUSION: Blood in the City, 1789-1945 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	265
SACRIFICIAL VICTIMS: A Chronology Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	347
NOTES Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	353
INDEX Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	389

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Audience: General/trade;
Pages
- Main content: 416
Illustrations
- Other: 2 maps, 20 halftones
Keywords: Europe; History

eBook

Published: October 18, 2018
ISBN: 9781501722448