Dawn of the Belle Epoque: The Paris of Monet Zola Bernhardt Eiffel Debussy Clemenceau and Their Friends

A humiliating military defeat by Bismarcks Germany a brutal siege and a bloody uprising―Paris in 1871 was a shambles and the question loomed Could this extraordinary city even survive? Mary McAuliffe takes the reader back to these perilous years following the abrupt collapse of the Second Empire and Frances uncertain venture into the Third Republic. By 1900 Paris had recovered and the Belle Epoque was in full flower but the decades between were difficult marked by struggles between republicans and monarchists the Republic and the Church and an ongoing economic malaise darkened by a rising tide of virulent anti-Semitism. Yet these same years also witnessed an extraordinary blossoming in art literature poetry and music with the Parisian cultural scene dramatically upended by revolutionaries such as Monet Zola Rodin and Debussy even while Gustave Eiffel was challenging architectural tradition with his iconic tower. Through the eyes of these pioneers and others including Sarah Bernhardt Georges Clemenceau Marie Curie and César Ritz we witness their struggles with the forces of tradition during the final years of a century hurtling towards its close. Through rich illustrations and evocative narrative McAuliffe brings this vibrant and seminal era to life.