The History of the Paris Commune of 1871

Description

In 1871, the working class of Paris, incensed by their lack of political power and tired of being exploited, seized control of the capital. This book is the outstanding history of the Commune, theheroic battles fought in its defence, and the bloody massacre that ended the uprising. Its author, Lissagaray, was a young journalist who not only saw the events recounted here first-hand, but fought for the Commune on the barricades. He spent the next twenty-five years researching and writing this history, which refutes the slanders levelled at the Communards by the ruling classes and is a vivid and valuable study in urban political revolution, one that retains its power to inspire to this day. This revised edition, translated by Eleanor Marx, includes a foreword by the writer and publisher Eric Hazan.

Prosper-Olivier Lisagaray (1838-1901) was a socialist, duelist, republican journalist and sometime lover of Eleanor Marx. Eric Hazan is the founder of the publisher La Fabrique and the author of several books, including Notes on the Occupation and the highly acclaimed The Invention of Paris. He has lived in Paris, France, all his life.

Lissagaray relives the Commune with all the bitterness of a man who could see the tragedy unfold, even as he played his part, dutifully, to the end. -- Paul Mason, economics editor of the BBC's Newsnight and author of Why It's Kicking Off Everywhere Prosper-Olivier Lissigaray, the Paris Commune's greatest historian, a rank-and-file participant in the events, produced a work of rare quality, a political history matched by few others. The tone of the book is fierce, passionate, angry and uncompromising. Its only equivalent is the poetry of Rimbaud. -- Tariq Ali