The Paris Commune of 1871

by Frank Jellinek

Originally published in the 1930s this is a fascinating examination, using documents and eye-witness accounts, of the famous Paris Commune. Contents include: The End of An Empire; The Government of National Defence; The National Assembly; The Eighteenth of March; The Government of Monsieur Assi; The Commune War; Cluseret Rossel Delescluze; Last Days of the Commune; The Battle of Paris; The End The Restoration of Order; The Commune At Work. Many of these earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

448 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[jimmy.james · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jellinek makes those far off events feel alive and relevant. Napoleon the Nephew’s panoptic ‘Liberal Empire’, with its police-spies, seething intelligentsia (or as Jellinek describes them ‘Declasse Mandarins’) and paltry but nonetheless real concessions granted to the novel phenomena of the nineteenth century, the industrial proletariat, acts as a presaging, in some respects, of the modernizing forces-of-order dictatorships headed by Mussolini, Primo De Riveria or Ataturk in the twentieth century.

The collapse of state-power and flight of the 'legal' government is told in vivid technicolor, aswell as the power squabble within the Commune, featuring many dubious on-the-make sorts (mainly of the military executive, such as Louis Rossel, etc...), as well as novel, honest elements (Jules Valles, Louise Michel, Eugene Varlin, etc...) who briefly fill the stage of history. The past is settled and the future is postponed. The shockingly gruesome deaths of the bonapartist General Clement-Thomas, and the socialist bookbinder Eugene Varlin are depicted as the opening and the closing chapter of the class struggle which carved out the Third Republic.

‘RESPECTABLE PEOPLE? WHAT BASTARDS!’ - Zola, Belly Of Paris.

[Justin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a compelling and extremely approachable rundown of the Paris Commune that reads more like a (particularly dry) novel than a history book.

[Marv's Council · Rating 4 out of 5]

A magnificent account of the democracy and bravery of the Communards in striving with great dignity for a society without exploitation and oppression. It is also an indictment of how vicious the bourgeoisie can be when faced with organised workers power. As history is littered with the ruling classes brutality. I suggest reading Marx on The Civil War in France after reading this. Long Live the Commune!