The Embrace of Unreason: France, 1914–1940

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. (Apr.)