From Publishers Weekly
Berenson, professor of history at UCLA, writes a gender micro-history of the Belle Epoque in France (1890-1914) by examining the trial and acquittal of Madame Henriette Caillaux. On March 14, 1914 she fatally shot Gaston Calmette, editor of Le Figaro , motivated by the press campaign he was conducting against her husband, Joseph Caillaux, an influential left-wing cabinet minister. Utilizing courtroom transcripts and press coverage of the proceedings which riveted the attention of the nation, the author presents a carefully researched analysis that yields insights into the years when early feminism was beginning to affect social mores. Through the behavior and statements of the trial's participants, a societal portrait of the complex power relationship between men and women of the period emerges in this fine academic history. Illustrated.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
A skillful take on France's belle poque, using the celebrated 1914 trial of Henriette Caillaux for the murder of Le Figaro editor Gaston Calmette as a springboard to examine a wide range of contemporary topics. Dubbing his method ``microhistory''--whereby the past is approached ``through one exemplary event or person''- -Berenson (History/UCLA) looks at French attitudes toward divorce, the place of women in society, masculine ``honor'' and dueling, the growing power of the popular press, and the lingering psychological damage of the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War. On March 16, 1914, Henriette Caillaux, wife of the head of the left-leaning Radical Party, entered the office of Gaston Calmette, whose influential journal was engaged in a campaign of vilification against Mme. Caillaux's husband, Joseph. ``You know why I have come?'' the elegantly dressed matron asked. ``Not at all, Madame,'' Calmette replied. Without another word, Mme. Caillaux drew a pistol from her muff and pumped six bullets into Calmette. Four months later, the editor's assailant stood trial for murder. Addressing the events of the week-long trial day-by-day, Berenson discusses how Mme. Caillaux's defense depended on convincing the jury that hers was an uncontrollable ``crime of passion'' rather than a premeditated political act. The author offers interesting insights into how this defense reflected the widely held conviction that ``real'' women were in thrall to their emotions and not responsible for their actions in such crimes. The ploy was successful: Henriette was found not guilty. Here, Berenson is especially sensitive in conveying the frustrations felt by many women of the time and the ironies inherent in their position. Speaking of male attitudes toward marital sex, for example, he writes, ``One's wife was not to be an object of sexual desire, since to desire her was to degrade her.'' Freshly researched, elegantly written, always engrossing. (Twelve b&w illustrations.) -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Review
"A carefully researched analysis that yields insights into the years when feminism was beginning to affect social mores." -- Publishers Weekly
"A rich and heady brew." -- The Atlantic
"Ironic and compelling." -- Stefan Kanfer, Los Angeles Times Book Review
"More than a courtroom drama; it is a drama of ideas. . . . a scholarly spellbinder, whose clear, elegant prose reveals the elaborate fictions at the heart of belle poque France." -- Julie Martin, New York Times Book Review
"[A] skillfully-crafted and absorbing study. Though he presents the volume as a case-study in micro-history, the course of the trial is not his major focus, and serves rather as a series of pegs on which he hangs well- rounded and pertinent analyses of key social and cultural features of pre-war France." -- Colin Jones, Times Higher Education Supplement
From the Inside Flap
"What a pleasure it is to read a book by a gifted writer whose exhaustive research results in such thought-provoking insights."Deirdre Bair, author of Simone de Beauvoir: A Biography
From the Back Cover
"What a pleasure it is to read a book by a gifted writer whose exhaustive research results in such thought-provoking insights." (Deirdre Bair, author of Simone de Beauvoir: A Biography)
About the Author
Edward Berenson is Professor of History at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the author of Populist Religion and Left-Wing Politics in France, 1830-1852 (1984).
