The Fall of Paris

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Spectacular part of a tragic tale - Rated
How on Earth could one of the greatest cities of the World have been caught up in a medieval siege barely a hundred years ago? And given that that city was nineteenth century Paris, what happened in the inevitable revolution that followed? Set against the backdrop of the second Reich's rise and the second Empire's collapse, "The Fall of Paris" is an enthralling account of civilisation's sudden crisis and painful recovery. A Horne's account of the bloodshed and despair is ameliorated by a wealth of insight into the individuals living and fighting hopefully through the trauma, and is well stocked with the military, technical and moral details of the defence and siege of Paris through 1870-71.

Quelle gripping stuff! - Rated
This book is a masterpiece of historical literature and it is a shame that it is not easily available in print. The tape may be as good though I hope it is not abridged.
Beginning with the Paris exhibition in 1865 the book paints the magnificence of the 2nd Empire under the aegis of that motto "enrichez vous!" - but reveals its crumbling exterior and intrigues. How wonderful Paris has always been and how much blood has also been spilt in it.

The first section deals with the siege of Paris and the second with the commune as an aftermath.

Bismark, German military superiority, eating cats and elephants, the Parisians, balloon messages, the winners and losers, the political upstarts and setting, 20,000 shot like dogs in the end; - facts, opinions, feelings all combined in an impressive array of letters, diary entries, accounts all fused into a coherent and compelling account.

The work could not be put down with lessons for today.

"The Fall of Paris" by Alistair Horne - Rated
Funnily enough, although not French, Horne's account of the 1870/71 siege of Paris and the subsequent Paris Commune is far more readable than numerous books I have read on the subject by French authors, including the authoratitive work by Lissagaray.

Although essentially a history book, which focuses more on the siege than the Commune, the author manages to combine a very readable narrative style with concrete fact.

One has the impression of reading a good story coupled with an accurate description of an historical episode.In fact, although I knew "what happened in the end", this was the first book on that period that I've actually managed to finish. Most books are so cluttered with names and other details, that one soon becomes bogged down.
Whether it be his descriptions of colourful characters such as the revolutionary doctor Gustave Flourens, the "Hero of Belleville" (whose tomb can still be visited today in Paris's Pere Lachaise cemetary), who once stormed into a meeting of the provisional government, jumped up on the table scraping his stirrups into the wood and kicking papers into the frightened ministers' faces or the anecdotes of the siege when starving Parisians were forced to eat the animals in the zoo (including the elephant), Horne's book is so well written that it is in fact very difficult to put down.

In short, it is a combination of a good novel and genuine historical fact. Even readers unfamiliar or formerly not interested in the period will find it captivating!