A skillful take on France's belle epoque, 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. (Kirkus Reviews)
Early in the evening of 16 March 1914 Henriette Caillaux, the wife
of a powerful French cabinet minister, paid an unexpected call to
her husband's most implacable enemy, Le Figaro editor Gaston
Calmette. Madame Caillaux wore an expensive fur coat with a large
fur muff to protect her hands from the wintry cold. Concealed
inside the muff was a Browning automatic. After murmuring a few
words, she drew her weapon and fired six shots at point-blank
range. Calmette slumped to the floor, fatally wounded; office
workers seized Madame Caillaux, smoking gun in hand. Four months
later Henriette Caillaux stood accused of murder before the Paris
Cour d'assises. The date was 20 July 1914, just two weeks before
Europe exploded into war. So mesmerizing was the trial that for
seven long days the French press virtually ignored the looming
conflict. As late as 29 July, some seventy-two hours before France
mobilized for war, several leading journals devoted more front-page
space to the Caillaux Affair than to the hostilities abroad. In
this elegant work of microhistory, Edward Berenson tells the story
of what was for commentators of the Belle Epoque "the trial of the
century". Never before had a criminal proceeding featured
depositions from the president of the Republic; many of its
participants ranked among the most powerful and noteworthy members
of French society. They included two former prime ministers,
cabinet ministers, members of parliament, directors of the leading
newspapers, medical experts, literary celebrities, and intellectual
luminaries. From his close analysis of this discrete but momentous
event, Berenson draws a fascinating portrait of the wider field of
politics and culture surroundingit. He considers the ways in which
French men and women perceived some of the most fundamental
concerns of their age: the meaning of crime and criminality, the
power and venality of the press, the changing relations between
women and men. The Caillaux Affair is a gripping narrative history
that gives us new and unsuspected insight into France of the Belle
Epoque.
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