Though written in the 1960’s, this masterful and eminently readable tour d’horizon of the fin de siècle and impending world war is totally beguiling. The author draws upon her immense scholarship and attention to detail to evoke the mood of the time. Nothing is more atmospheric than the final chapter which recounts the assassination of the French socialist and pacifist Jean Jaures on 31July 1914. Three days later, the cataclysmic events began.
(Jeremy Miller - bwl 120 Spring 2026 ) |
