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Captain Dreyfus: The Story of a Mass Hysteria
Recounts the events surrounding the infamous Dreyfus affair and the heroic efforts of the Dreyfusard intellectuals who resisted this miscarriage of justice
284 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1955
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 16, 2015
I actually found this book to be rather terrifying. I, fortunately, came into it with some knowledge of The Dreyfus Affair before hand, but not in any great detail. The simplest way to describe the affair, is that, in 1894, the counterespionage unit of the French Army stumbled upon evidence that documents had been passed from the General Staff to the military attaché at the German Embassy. Over the course of a botched investigation, the Second Bureau, as the unit was known, settled their suspicions an Capt. Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish artillery officer, originally from Alsace-Lorraine.
Even though France had granted full citizenship to her Jewish residents, and, when the affair broke, antisemitism seemed to be a non-entity, Dreyfus' arrest and trial led to a massive split in public opinion, with the vast majority of ordinary citizens learning about the affair from the newspapers, ready to crucify him as a traitor to France.
Regardless of the fact that the evidence used to convince the Court-Martial to convict Capt. Dreyfus was forged, and the fact that the newspapers largely made up the evidence they reported against him, it took twelve years from his conviction at the end of 1894 for him to be fully acquitted. He went on to become a hero during his service in the First World War.
The narrative of the book documents the progression of the manufacture of evidence, the circuitous route of trials, lawsuits, and appeals which eventually led to Dreyfus' acquittal; and the vitriol of the newspapers, especially the royalist, antisemitic, and clerical sheets of the day. It was primarily the goading of these outlets that whipped the French public into a frenzy and fail to see the deceit which was taking place in front of their own eyes, which the entire rest of the world could plainly see was a gross miscarriage of justice.
The scary part, is that if you take the broad strokes of this narrative and replace Jew with Muslim, I could see the exact same thing happening today in the United States. Especially with the attack in Paris last week, Americans are constantly on edge about where the next attack will come from, and, if an espionage unit thought a Muslim soldier had sent military documents to Iran or Syria, it is not hard to imagine the whirlwind of vitriol that would spew from the mouths of our modern pundits in cable news.
For me, then, this book becomes a cautionary tale of what happens when we forget our laws and customs and come to see one specific group as dangerous. I pray that we are able to keep our heads about us and treat each person with the respect and dignity they deserve, and also remember that each is his own man.
Even though France had granted full citizenship to her Jewish residents, and, when the affair broke, antisemitism seemed to be a non-entity, Dreyfus' arrest and trial led to a massive split in public opinion, with the vast majority of ordinary citizens learning about the affair from the newspapers, ready to crucify him as a traitor to France.
Regardless of the fact that the evidence used to convince the Court-Martial to convict Capt. Dreyfus was forged, and the fact that the newspapers largely made up the evidence they reported against him, it took twelve years from his conviction at the end of 1894 for him to be fully acquitted. He went on to become a hero during his service in the First World War.
The narrative of the book documents the progression of the manufacture of evidence, the circuitous route of trials, lawsuits, and appeals which eventually led to Dreyfus' acquittal; and the vitriol of the newspapers, especially the royalist, antisemitic, and clerical sheets of the day. It was primarily the goading of these outlets that whipped the French public into a frenzy and fail to see the deceit which was taking place in front of their own eyes, which the entire rest of the world could plainly see was a gross miscarriage of justice.
The scary part, is that if you take the broad strokes of this narrative and replace Jew with Muslim, I could see the exact same thing happening today in the United States. Especially with the attack in Paris last week, Americans are constantly on edge about where the next attack will come from, and, if an espionage unit thought a Muslim soldier had sent military documents to Iran or Syria, it is not hard to imagine the whirlwind of vitriol that would spew from the mouths of our modern pundits in cable news.
For me, then, this book becomes a cautionary tale of what happens when we forget our laws and customs and come to see one specific group as dangerous. I pray that we are able to keep our heads about us and treat each person with the respect and dignity they deserve, and also remember that each is his own man.
November 5, 2021
Read for class at UTC called Heroes and Villains. Really fascinating story that certainly I had no experience with. Sobering.
April 22, 2014
The story sounds like a made-up Hitchcock movie, but it's all true.
There are probably lots of books on the Dreyfus Affair; I was lucky to stumble on this one at an estate sale. The writing is engaging and makes the complicated story easier to follow, though admittedly I got lost towards the end, not having a degree in French history.
I tagged this with good-and-evil; we see how real life people made difficult choices, extreme sacrifices, to do what was right. Now that I'm familiar with the case, I see references to it everywhere.
My copy has caricatures of the main players, with short blurbs, on the paper cover, which proved surprisingly helpful.
There are probably lots of books on the Dreyfus Affair; I was lucky to stumble on this one at an estate sale. The writing is engaging and makes the complicated story easier to follow, though admittedly I got lost towards the end, not having a degree in French history.
I tagged this with good-and-evil; we see how real life people made difficult choices, extreme sacrifices, to do what was right. Now that I'm familiar with the case, I see references to it everywhere.
My copy has caricatures of the main players, with short blurbs, on the paper cover, which proved surprisingly helpful.
September 13, 2024
A challenging but important read. A comprehensive chronology of a more than decade long period involving many people, so many people in fact that it was confusing. But real history is confusing so that is okay. A glossary of key people would have been a helpful reference tool.
Amazing the parallels I see now with the rabid, widespread and fully public demonstration of antisemitism of France at the turn of the 20th century with antisemitism now being experienced worldwide unfortunately.
Frequent moments of brilliant prose indicating great philosophical, moral and historical insights against deep character descriptions and detailed historical descriptions. Other times I wished for simpler prose to ease understanding for those not already familiar with the Affair.
Enthralling but challenging to understand at times. Definitely recommend others read it though. Too important for today to ignore.
Amazing the parallels I see now with the rabid, widespread and fully public demonstration of antisemitism of France at the turn of the 20th century with antisemitism now being experienced worldwide unfortunately.
Frequent moments of brilliant prose indicating great philosophical, moral and historical insights against deep character descriptions and detailed historical descriptions. Other times I wished for simpler prose to ease understanding for those not already familiar with the Affair.
Enthralling but challenging to understand at times. Definitely recommend others read it though. Too important for today to ignore.
October 19, 2017
3 3/4 stars
February 2, 2019
About the Dreyfus Affair . The play of state secrets vs. the rights of an individual.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews