Why the Dreyfus Affair Matters (Why X Matters),   ISBN:9780300125320

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Although the Dreyfus affair took place over a century ago it is still alive and Louis Begley shows that it's relevant as well. Perhaps more than ever in the light of the abuses of the Guantanamo.

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The Dreyfus Affair, a sordid series of events that ripped the fabric of 19th/early 20th Century France, has ramifications for present-day society, or such at least is the premise of this book, one of a series "Why X Matters" from Yale University Press. The author, Louis Begley, is a renowned novelist and retired lawyer. Since the Dreyfus Affair was fundamentally a legal one (and a complex one, at that), a lawyer with a novelist's skills should be ideally suited to analyzing the aracana of this remote past occurrence and portraying it in an appealing fashion. Based on the premise of the series and these qualifications, Begley should convincingly demonstrate the relevance of Dreyfus's travails. While he succeeds admirably in the first task, he falls a bit short of his goal in the second.

Prior to the publication of this book, the standard historical accounting of this Byzantinely-complex event was given by Michael Burns in his 1991 book, "Dreyfus: A Family Affair". Compared to that work, Begley's story is much more focused, more succinct, more detailed and has a somewhat different emphasis. Rather than elaborating on the entire genealogy of the Dreyfus clan and delivering a panorama of contemporary French society, Begley concentrates on the salient event: the false accusation of traitorous dealings between the French military officer, Dreyfus and the hated German adversary. Burns portrays the protagonists differently from Begley. In the former case, one of the antagonistic General Staff officers, Armand Mercier du Paty de Clam, is portrayed as an hysterical, malevolent principal. Whilst Begley portrays him similarly, he is primarily seen as a dupe of General Charles-Arthur Gonse and yet another Staff officer, Joseph Henry. Generals Gonse, Boisdeffre and Auguste Mercier (evidently the major motive force behind the court martial conviction of Dreyfus) assume a much more seminal position in Begley's recounting of events compared to Burns'. Dreyfus's brother, Mathieu, is given prime credit for Dreyfus' eventual release from the inaptly-named "Salvation Islands" and final exoneration, though credit is justly assigned to the coterie of Dreyfus supporters known as "Dreyfusards" in the Burns book. In Begley's version, Georges Picquart, yet another officer, though this time one of high principal and honor, receives prime credit. Both books emphasize the seismic impact of the Affair on French society (primarily) and world opinion (secondarily) and both portray the character of Alfred Dreyfus similarly. Finally, Begley's book has a "Cast of Characters" appendix which is most helpful in keeping the reader from numerous consultations with the index.

So, how exactly does the Dreyfus Affair "matter" outside its historical and symbolic context? Aside from the conspiratorial aspect (this time, an actual event instead of a paranoid fantasy), the gross anti-Semitism (a perpetual issue to a greater or lesser extent), the natural divisions between conservative (maybe reactionary) and liberal (sometimes revolutionary) perspectives and the roiled historical setting in which this event transpired (following, as it did, the defeat of French forces at Sedan by the German/Prussian armies; the collapse of the Second Republic in 1852; the Paris Commune; Napoleon III's fall; loss of Alsace-Lorraine, etc, etc.) there are More Important Lessons to be Learned. These include extending undue faith to governmental officials, placing too much trust in honored and established institutions, the need for maintaining a system of "checks and balances" and being alert to the pernicious influence of prejudice. All these are glaringly obvious and hardly need further illustration. Yet, Begley makes a tenuous (and sometimes tendentious) connection between the Affair and the policies of the George W. Bush Administration and its so-called, "War on Terror". Yes, parallels exist but only in the broadest sense which need not be detailed here (see Jane Mayer's, "The Dark Side" for a catalogue of stupid decisions and muddled thinking by Administration officials). Begley simply plops some of the more egregious examples into the middle-section of the book citing treatment of Guantanamo prisoners (bad) with Dreyfus's treatment on Devil's Island (bad). This, when further larded with several other maladroit, stupid, myopic, self-defeating and possibly illegal examples of Bush Administration actions, seemingly demonstrates "why the Dreyfus Affair matters" to the contemporary reader. The congruence of the Administration's policies with the frame-up of Dreyfus and its resultant fallout is grossly overdrawn. Abuse of power in both cases? Obviously. Implications for present-day America? Patently true. Clearly correspondent? Decidedly not. The Bush policies are Begley's primary parallel, contemporary manifestations of French anti-Semitism constitute the secondary and perhaps more important "lesson".

One other (albeit minor) criticism: Begley veers off on an unnecessarily detailed tangent on Marcel Proust, this based on the appearance of the Affair in Proust's major book. The social and intellectual ramifications of the Affair were dealt with in adequate detail elsewhere in this study and the Proust dalliance is a distractor.

So, in conclusion, the history of the Dreyfus Affair in the Begley book is (as Professor Robert Paxton notes in the liner blurb) unmatched in "...clarity...concision and passion...". Despite the limitations outlined above, this book should be the standard short history of the Affair. As to demonstrating its direct implications, the parallels are evident but the arguments are a bit weak.