History of a Crime: Deposition of a Witness

by Victor Hugo

By the age of twenty-nine Victor Hugo was the established master of French poetry, drama and the novel; by virtue of Les Orientales, Hernani and Notre Dame de Paris respectively. He would write for nearly fifty-four more years with no significant depreciation in his work. Hugo wrote, in Dieu (God), that Satan had sent three evils into this world; war, capitol punishment and imprisonment. On April 13, 1845 Hugo was made a Peer de France and on June 4th he was elected to the National Assembly. The revolution of 1848 marked a watershed in the social and political opinions and ultimately in the course of the great writer's literary career. However, for Victor Hugo the course that would lead him from the right to the left in the Chamber of Deputies, unfolded gradually over the first two years of the upheaval. Hugo's reputation as a critic already insured that his preventative arrest along with other dissenting parliamentarians. Hugo also futilely attempted to form a resistance committee and tried to rally popular support in Paris for a new round of barricades. These moments are the subject of his novel History of a Crime. By the time the great romantic had begun his exile he had turned one hundred and eighty degrees, from an adherent of the restored monarchy to a champion of a democratic and social republic. When his political activities forced him to flee Paris, he started writing less than 24 hours after he arrived in Brussels. In less than five months, he completed History of a Crime, which contains vicious attacks on Napoleon III. Belgium asked Hugo to leave because they were forced to maintain friendly relations with France. Hugo then went to the small island of Jersey not far from the French coast, but he would never make a real home for himself there. There he published Les Châtements a book of poems further defaming Napoleon III. When England allied itself with Napoleon III (1855) Hugo attacked the Queen as well, with this he overstepped his welcome in Jersey and was told to leave the island (Jersey was a British holding).

Genres: Classics, Fiction, French Literature, France, Novels, Crime, Historical Fiction

432 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1877

About the author

After Napoleon III seized power in 1851, French writer Victor Marie Hugo went into exile and in 1870 returned to France; his novels include The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1831) and Les Misérables (1862).

This poet, playwright, novelist, dramatist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, and perhaps the most influential, important exponent of the Romantic movement in France, campaigned for human rights. People in France regard him as one of greatest poets of that country and know him better abroad.

Reviews

[Magrat Ajostiernos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un relato Histórico y a la vez político extremadamente minucioso sobre un golpe de estado y el intento infructuoso por derrotarlo. A veces resulta desgarrador e impresionante y otras algo repetitivo y farragoso por la cantidad de nombres y personajes poco relevantes para la historia.

[Joao Baptista · Rating 3 out of 5]

O crime de que trata esta obra é o golpe de Estado perpetrado por Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte a 2 de Dezembro de 1851, que culminou na derrocada da II República Francesa e, após um plebiscito, na sua proclamação, no ano imediato, como Imperador, sob o nome de Napoleão III.
Não estamos, pois, perante um romance. Ao invés, nesta crónica, escrita na 1ª pessoa, Victor Hugo relata com toda a minúcia os terríveis eventos que se desenrolaram entre os dias 2 e 5 de Dezembro de 1851, nos quais teve relevante intervenção do lado da resistência ao golpe de Estado.
O discurso é directo e objectivo, dando conta das movimentações dos mais diversos intervenientes, bem como da flutuação das expectativas e do pulsar dos estados de espírito. O Autor não o quis conceber, pois, como um relato romanceado – o que não quer dizer que seja ideologicamente neutro e desprovido de uma visão subjectiva, ou sequer que seja literariamente árido –, mas como um texto que se pretende histórico, um testemunho vivo e impressionante.
Mas esta virtude é também, num certo sentido, uma fraqueza do texto. Hugo tem a preocupação de transcrever todos os nomes dos intervenientes (com excepção daqueles que, então ainda vivos, pudessem sofrer represálias durante o Império), as inúmeras deliberações e proclamações que foram sendo feitas, algumas transcrições de sessões da Assembleia Nacional. Para além de muitos desses nomes terem caído no esquecimento, tais menções quebram um pouco o ritmo da leitura e o seu interesse actual, fora do campo historiográfico, é reduzido.
No entanto, no seu cerne a obra continua actual, pois que nos confronta, de forma inescapável, com o eterno problema da luta entre o Direito e a força, de como aquele, desprovido desta, se arrisca a ser pouco mais do que um conjunto de proclamações vazias e inconsequentes, especialmente quando a sociedade não encontra na sua instituição um fundamento legitimador suficiente para assegurar a sua observância.
Particularmente impressionantes são as inúmeras cenas em que oficiais do exército francês e das forças policiais, encarregados de cumprir ordens ilegítimas e ilegais emanadas do poder golpista, são confrontados com essa ilegalidade e com a traição que elas consubstanciam. Mas, embora o reconheçam, a fidelidade às ordens dos seus superiores surge como intocável, mostrando como a obediência absoluta pode converter um corpo de defesa da sociedade numa arma facilmente utilizável contra ele. E, nesta dimensão, a obra transcende claramente a sua occasio histórica.

[Philippe Malzieu · Rating 5 out of 5]

I believe that it's one of the first political text of Victor Hugo. It is a journalistic report of the coup d'Etat of Napoleon III.
Strange man that Victor Hugo. Young person, he was royalist Pair of France, he finishes his life republican.
The machination proceeds without much resistance. The mechanics is relentless. The reaction of the republicans is low. Hugo sets off to exile.

For Hugo, it is a crime. He has a sacred conception of people and freedom. By his act, Napoleon III had trangressed. More than a crime, it is a blasphemy. And Hugo from his island will fight against the tyrant. His weapons, a pen and paper. He had drawing the black legend of this Empire. Napoleon III had no any chance.

There is a twin book it is necessary to read with this one, "Napoleon le petit". Hugo ridiculized him.

The posterity did not save him. The Queen Hortense mother of Napoleon III was not very shy. She had many love affairs. DNA have spoken. Napoleon III didn't belong to Napoleon family. His father is probably Descases.

[EstelleLiterature · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a lesser known work of Hugo. He quit Paris law school before obtaining his degree, but his mastery over law is easily observable in the proceedings of the French National Assembly, which still has a salon dedicated to his name. Most French readers ignore this particular work of his because it doesn't fit his literary style, yet this nonfiction work comes straight from his heart during the Second Empire's start. The book is freely available on the USA official Archive, BNF, and Guttenberg project.

For me, beyond the dry-style testimony, there are rich emotions hiding: notably his fleeing France to Belgium disguised in a manual worker's smock; in his inner conflict in leaving his wife Adel Foucher and their children behind; and in his muse Juliette Drouet's risking her life to obtain a fake passport for Hugo and supplying him his basic necessities along the way.

What most literary people ignore in his works is that such experiences of trauma and support prepared Hugo for his masterpiece Les Miserables, substantially different from its lesser known first draft titled "Les Miseres" that he wrote 30 years earlier before Les Miserables was published in 1862.

[Marc Tiefenthal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Document plutôt historique que littéraire. Toutefois, le génie de l'écrivain y trouve sa place.

[Kudzie Chihwayi]

Can someone please help me. I'm looking for the Spanish edition of this book.

[Dan DeMaioNewton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poignant today more than ever. Victor Hugo's biographical account of what happened when the Little Napoleon staged a coup d'etat and overthrew the French republic. It's hard to imagine that ever happening in America (Except in Sinclair Lewis' brilliant novel, It Can't Happen Here). But the realism made me really understand that it can happen, and how easily. The way the military and police simply "follow orders" harkens to the crowds protesting that Lives Matter. The expectation that the people will rise up and prevent this crime, only to find that they are apathetic and only realize the implications too late.

I did feel that the ending was short. Surely the German invasion and downfall of the Little Napoleon was true, but Hugo's exile is almost skipped over as is his exit from his beloved France.

A fantastic read for those who read the unabridged Les Miserables. I liked it, wanted to love it, and am glad I read it.

[Literaria Comunicación · Rating 4 out of 5]

Historia de un crimen es la crónica de las cuatro primeras jornadas que se saldaron con 400 muertos y 184 heridos. Las consecuencias de la derrota se extendieron también a los miembros de la oposición que tuvieron que abandonar el país y que se negaron a volver a Francia a pesar del decreto de amnistía general de 1859. Victor Hugo, exiliado en Bélgica, regresó en septiembre de 1870, después del fracaso del ejército francés en Sedán, para participar en la defensa del sitio de París. Fue entonces cuando pronunció una de sus famosas máximas: “El destino no tiene prisa, pero siempre llega”, pues lo que se ató el 2 de diciembre de 1851, se desató el 2 de septiembre de 1870”.
Historia de un crimen es el legado vivo de un episodio de la lucha contra la tiranía. Su prosa, como dice Jaime Fernández, en la introducción, “inspirada y brillante, cautiva al lector desde la primera página”.

[Bella · Rating 3 out of 5]

It feels like it’s been ages since I read The History of a Crime, but I remember it being good, just a bit dragged out. Hugo dives deep into the 1851 coup, and while it’s powerful, some parts felt like they went on too long. Still, if you're into political history, it’s definitely worth checking out.

[Dan D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing history to hear Hugo tell it makes me think of today's history. So relevant and so human.

[Ed_lukian · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars