Defeated Flesh: Welfare, Warfare and the Making of Modern France

(Paperback)

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Defeated flesh dwells on the French defeat of 1870 and the socialist uprising of the Commune of Paris.. This is one of the first books to develop an in-depth, comparative analysis of the Franco-Prussian war and the Commune.. By looking at the history of the body and medicine it considers how the French people mobilised for the war effort and how their ultimate defeat had cultural and social consequences which led to the fin-de-siecle spirit.. Looking at the siege of Paris, the war suffering and rationing in an exceptionally harsh period of French history it revises the current debates on citizenship, centralisation and modern warfare.. Looking at many untouched sources, Taithe seeks to understand why 1870-1871 became such an important phase in the making of modern France. -- .

Reviews

"This is a most original and interesting work, which provides a new and thought-provoking approach to a subject that has begun to attract new interest on both sides of the Atlantic...The book is a scholarly feat and no doubt a labour of love. It is clearly the fruit of deep thought." --Professor Simms

Author Bio

Bertrand Taithe is Senior Lecturer in French and British history at the University of Huddersfield