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University of California Press

About the Book

Edward Berenson recounts the trial of Henriette Caillaux, the wife of a powerful French cabinet minister, who murdered her husband's enemy Le Figaro editor Gaston Calmette, in March 1914, on the eve of World War I. In analyzing this momentous event, Berenson draws a fascinating portrait of Belle Epoque politics and culture.

About the Author

Edward Berenson is Professor of History at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the author of Populist Religion and Left-Wing Politics in France, 1830-1852 (1984).

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations                            
   Acknowledgments                                  
   Prologue                                          

1. Henriette Caillaux and the Crime of Passion      
2. Joseph Caillaux: The Politics of Personality     
3. Henriette Caillaux: Femininity, Feminism, and the Real Woman                                       
4. Berthe Gueydan: The Politics of Divorce         
5. Judge Albanel: Masculinity, Honor, and the Duel 
6. Gaston Calmette: The Power and Venality of the Press                                           

   Epilogue                                        
   Notes                                           
   Index                                           
 

Reviews

"What a pleasure it is to read a book by a gifted writer whose exhaustive research results in such thought-provoking insights."—Deirdre Bair, author of Simone de Beauvoir: A Biography