By Prosper-Olivier Lissagaray, translated from the French by Eleanor Marx.
In 1871, the working class of Paris, incensed by their lack of political power and tired of being exploited, seized control of the capital. This book is the outstanding history of the Commune, the heroic battles fought in its defence, and the bloody massacre that ended the uprising. Its author, Lissagaray, was a young journalist who not only saw the events recounted here first-hand, but fought for the Commune on the barricades. He spent the next twenty-five years researching and writing this history, which refutes the slanders levelled at the Communards by the ruling classes and is a vivid and valuable study in urban political revolution, one that retains its power to inspire to this day.
This revised edition includes a foreword by the writer and publisher Eric Hazan.
Prosper-Olivier Lissagaray (1838–1901) was a socialist, duelist, republican journalist and sometime lover of Eleanor Marx.
Eric Hazan is the founder of the publishing house La Fabrique and the author of several books, including Notes on the Occupation and the highly acclaimed The Invention of Paris.
Verso, 2012.
Product Code: 9781844677764