Alfred Dreyfus

An insightful new biography of the central figure in the Dreyfus Affair, focused on the man himself and based on newly accessible documents An admirable introduction not only to its nominal subject but to . . . great historical events.Geoffrey Wheatcroft, New York Review of Books On January 5, 1895, Captain Alfred Dreyfuss cries of innocence were drowned out by a mob shouting Death to Judas! In this book, Maurice Samuels gives readers new insight into Dreyfus himselfthe man at the center of the affair. He tells the story of Dreyfuss early life in Paris, his promising career as a French officer, the false accusation leading to his imprisonment on Devils Island, the fight to prove his innocence that divided the French nation, and his life of quiet obscurity after World War I. Samuelss striking perspective is enriched by a newly available archive of more than three thousand documents and objects donated by the Dreyfus family. Unlike many historians, Samuels argues that Dreyfus was not an assimilated Jew. Rather, he epitomized a new model of Jewish identity made possible by the French Revolution, when France became the first European nation to grant Jews full legal equality. This book analyzes Dreyfuss complex relationship to Judaism and to antisemitism over the course of his lifea story that, as global antisemitism rises, echoes still. It also shows the profound effect of the Dreyfus Affair on the lives of Jews around the world.