Paris Commune Reading List

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You knew this list was coming eventually, right?  Given my obsession with the Paris Commune, and my love of creating reading lists, it was just a matter of time before I got around to creating a list of all the books I've read on the Paris Commune.
But exactly why now instead of, say, 5 years ago, or 2 years from now?
A couple things pushed this back into the forefront of my mind.
I just discovered that Ho Chi Minh City (where I'm currently living) has an area named "Paris Commune Square."  It's in front of the French Notre Dame Cathedral--just a few blocks from where I live and work, and in an area that I walk through regularly.  I've been down this way countless times, but I've only just found out now that it's named after the Paris Commune.

Given how important the Paris Commune is in Communist mythology, I suppose this is not particularly surprising to find some part of Ho Chi Minh City named after it.  But it's still a cool little surprise nonetheless.
"Oh wow, that's really cool,"  I said to a Vietnamese friend when I found out about this.  "I've read load of books on the Paris Commune."
She nodded politely, and then promptly changed the subject.  As it turns out, nobody cares about my reading list but me.
...Well at least I have this blog to indulge all my interests.

All of which reminded me of a comment Phil made on this blog a few years ago:
You know, if you're ever stuck for post ideas, you've read more than enough history and nonfiction to start doing top-ten lists. "My Ten Favorites on the French Revolution"--that type of thing. I'd read the hell out of that (and in fact it would be pretty useful, as I find myself looking for those kinds of things every time I start to try to read more history. "Should I bother with Hobsbawm? If only a smart person would just tell me the best books on the age of revolutions!"--that type of thing.)

I've actually gotten a lot of good use of that idea in the years since, compiling a number of book lists
* My Favorite Narrative History Books
* My Favorite Historical Fiction Books
* My List of Classic Books that are Actually Fun to Read
* My 10 Worst Fiction Books
* My 10 Worst Non-Fiction Books
* My 10 Best Fiction Books
* My 10 Best Non-Fiction Books

But I never did the "My Ten Favorites on the French Revolution" post.  And actually, a look through my reading list shows that I couldn't write that post even if I wanted to.
I've read 11 books that are connected with the French Revolution in some way (here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here), but no books that are a straight up history of the French Revolution.
But a Paris Commune Reading list?  Oh yeah, I could totally do that.

Before I get into that, however, I suppose I should explain what so fascinated me about the Paris Commune in the first place.

History geeks, by our very nature, are interested in anything and everything history related.  I'm not limited to one time period--I'll also quite happily read about ancient Greece, or Samurai Japan.
But for many years now, the 19th Century has been my primary historical interest.  For a number of reasons.  It's a very turbulent period, where the modern democratic and republican ideals spread throughout the world, and  just about every country underwent some sort of revolution.
For anyone interested in politics, this period is also fascinating because it's the beginning of the modern world, and the period in which all of our political ideology came from.
And, interestingly enough, not only did our political ideologies come from this period, they also ossified during this period.
Part of the reason the American Right is so out of touch with reality is because all their political vocabulary was created in 1776, and they've never caught up with the modern world.
Part of the reason the Left is so out of touch with reality is because all their political vocabulary comes from 1848, and they've never caught up with the modern world.
We live in a world in which our political ideologies no longer make sense, which accounts for a lot of confusion.  But back in the 19th century, all of this stuff did actually make sense.  You could talk about the right to bear arms, and well-regulated militias, and a proletarian revolution, and it was all possible and conceivable.  It was a time when the political ideologies actually made sense with the reality of the times.

Within this period of the birth of ideologies, the Paris Commune stands at a particular crossroads.
The mythology of the Paris Commmune is just as interesting as the actual history.
  It is presented as both the last republican revolution in France, and the first communist revolution. The  anarchists also claim it as instrumental in the history of anarchism [LINK HERE].

The Paris Commune, being the only communist revolution before 1917, is therefore the last communist revolution it is possible to romanticize.  After Stalin and Mao, communism is forever associated with bureaucracies, secret police, death camps, and work quotas.
The Paris Commune is the last Communist revolution that still belongs to the romantic era of red flags, barricades, Karl Marx, and the first Socialist International.

However, as any of the books on this reading list will tell you, the mythology is a lot different than the actual history.  The Paris Commune was not particularly communist or Marxist or anarchist in its ideology.  Karl Marx and the International played little to no part in the Paris Commune (other than to warn the Paris workers not to do it beforehand, and  then to eulogize the revolution after it was all over).
The Paris Commune was, however, definitely a proletarian revolution.  It was the first time in the modern era that a major world capital was controlled by the poor people.

The Paris Commune is also fascinating for being the proto-typical example of the tragedy of the Left.  It exemplifies the perfectly the Abbie Hoffman quote: "The Left has a marvelous ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory." [quote here].
Here were the radical leftists--finally for the first time in control of a major world capital.  And what do they do?  They spend all their time squabbling with each other, while the Versailles army marches in.
It's a tragic story that would unfortunately repeat itself over and over and over again in the next 150 years, as the Left has always been more interested in squabbling with each other than it has been in achieving victory.

Anyway, that's why this little event has fascinated me so much over the years.

Next, a couple quick disclaimer before I start the list--the memory fades somewhat over the years, and many of the books on this list I've read several years ago now.  So undoubtedly my commentary on these books won't be quite as sharp as if I had just read them yesterday.  This is a problem when compiling any book list, but it's particularly a problem with several books on the same subject, because they all lump together in the memory.  The old "I know I read that somewhere, but which book was it in again?" problem comes up a lot.
But if I waited any longer to do this list, the problem would get even worse.  So I'm going to try to muddle through this as best I can now.
Disclaimer number 2: This is only a list of the books I've read.  There's tons of other books out there that I haven't read.  For example, the most recent popular history on the Paris Commune, Massacre by John Merriman, which has gotten excellent reviews (see here).

But with those disclaimers aside, here's my own list.
Instead of ranking these books, I've decided to list them in the order I would recommend reading them, starting with:

1. The Revolutions of 1848 by Priscilla Robertson

This book is about 1848, not 1871.  But I'd recommend it as a starting point just the same, because a surprising amount of the dramatis personae are the same in both revolutions.  Almost all of the older revolutionaries in 1871 (Felix Pyatt, Delescluze, etc) all had prominent roles in 1848.  And understanding the background of these characters and events will help a lot in understanding the events of 1871.
Want to know why Blanqui was such a hero to the left in 1871?  Then it helps to understand his role in 1848.
Want to know why the left regarded Louis Blanc as a traitor for not supporting the Commune?  Then it helps to understand his prominent role on the left in 1848.
Want to know why Clement Thomas was so hated by the Paris Proletariat in 1871?  Because of his role in brutally suppressing the Proletariat in 1848.
Also the whole drama of the Napoleon the III, and the second Empire has its roots in 1848.
(For the purposes of understanding the Paris Commune, you only need to read the chapters in this book dealing with France.)

2. The Fall of Paris by Alistair Horne

For the uninitiated, there are a lot of names and factions to keep track of in the events leading up to the Paris Commune.  You have the officials of the Second Empire.  Then you have the liberals (who later become the 3rd Republic after Napoleon III abdicates).  Then you have the Left.
And to add to the confusion, the prominent voices on the Left in the events leading up to the Paris Commune were not the same names as the people who became the actual leaders of the Paris Commune itself.  (Blanqui, Rochefort, and Flourens were all prominent leaders on the Left leading up to the Paris Commune, but Blanqui was arrested right before the Paris Commune, Rochefort got cold feet and did not participate in the revolution, and Flourens was killed very early on).
That's real life history for you--it can be a lot messier than a novel.  But if you want a guide who can help you get to know who all these characters are, then Alistair Horne is that guide.  He guides the reader slowly and carefully through all the major events of the siege and Commune.

3. The History of the Paris Commune by Prosper Olivier Lissagaray

Okay, now that you know who everyone is and what the major events are, it's time to get into the more polemical histories.
This book, written by Karl Marx's son-in-law, is the official Marxist history of the Paris Commune.  It brings in a lot of details about the street fighting in Paris, and the order in which the barricades fell during the advance of the Versailles army.  But it primarily assumes the reader is generally familiar with the events, and is just seeking a greater analysis.  (It was published in 1876, so it was written for an audience who had just recently seen these events unfold in the newspapers, and didn't need to be reminded who Napoleon III was, or what the legacy of the Second Empire was.)  But if you've already read Alistair Horne's book, then you should be ready for this one.
This book is definitely advancing an agenda: the Paris Commune fell not because it was inevitable that the Proletariat had to lose, but because its leaders were loud-mouthed idiots who were more concerned with making pronouncements than they were doing the actual work of leading.  In particular, Felix Pyat and Gustave Cluseret come off as the chief villains.

4. Karl Marx's Writings on the Paris Commune

The exact title of this book might vary depending on the publisher.  I read Penguin Classics Karl Marx: The First International and After; Political Writings Volume 3.  It may also be sold in the volume Christopher Hitchens edited: Karl Marx On the Paris Commune (A).
The basic essays you want are Marx's writings on the Franco-Prussian War (First Address of the General Council on the Franco-Prussian War, Letter to the Brunswick Committee of the Social-Democratic Workers’ Party , Second Address of the General Council on the Franco-Prussian War) and Karl Marx's infamous: The Civil War in France. 
As I wrote in my 2005 review of this book, I've never been able to get my head around Marx's philosophical or economic writings, but I was pleasantly surprised to find out that his political writings were very easy to understand and very readable.  They essentially read like any political polemicist today.  (In my 2005 review, I compared it to reading Chomsky's political polemics.)
Whether you like Marx or not, every historian agrees that Marx's The Civil War in France is absolutely essential reading if you want to understand the place the Paris Commune occupies in communist mythology.  But because it's a polemic, and not a history, I recommend you wait to read it until you have absorbed the history first.

5. The Insurrectionist by Jules Valles

At this point, you should be familiar with most of the names associated with the Paris Commune, so it's time to get a first hand portrait of a lot of those people (such as Blanqui, Rigault, Varlin, Vermorel, and Michelet) written by someone who actually lived through it.
There is some debate whether this book should be read as a straight up memoir, or as a fictionalized memoir, but it's a fascinating examination of the events of the Paris Commune by someone who actually lived through it.  (As with a lot of the books on this list, it's long been out of print, and you won't find a copy at your local bookstore.  But the Internet, or Amazon.com, should help you track down a copy.)

6. Paris Babylon by Rupert Christiansen

Rupert Christiansen brings in a different perspective to the Paris Commune.  He focuses on the decadence of the Second Empire during its last days, and tries to draw a line from this towards the upheaval in the Paris Commune.  As I wrote in my review, I'm not sure he succeeded in making the connection, but it's an interesting perspective nonetheless.
His use of primary documents like journals and letters is also a great attempt to see the events of the siege and the Commune through the eyes of every day Parisians living at the time.

7. Revolution and Reaction: The Paris Commune 1871 Edited by John Hick and Robert Tucker

Now that you've got the history, and the classic Marxist takes on the Paris Commune, you should find this collection of essays very interesting.
As I mentioned in my review, it's 21 short articles on the Commune by 21 different authors, differing widely in content, focus, and quality.  Some of them are, admittedly, better than others.  But there's some fascinating stuff in here.  The reprinting of the legal defense of Gustave Courbet.  (By this time in the reading list, you will definitely know who Gustave Courbet is.)  And the reprinting of an interview Karl Marx gave to the New York World in 1871 about the Paris Commune.

Historical Fiction About the Paris Commune
Anyone who knows me knows that I love learning about history through the medium of historical fiction.  And I've read three historical fiction books on the Paris Commune.

8. The Debacle by Emile Zola

This is a 500 page book, in which the events of the Paris Commune enter only at the last 50 pages.  I recommend it anyway.
The main focus of the book is the battle of Sedan.  Which is of course one of the precursors to the Paris Commune (as you'll no doubt know by this point in the reading list).  And the battle of Sedan is expertly described.
Although Emile Zola is nowadays remembered as one of the heroes of the Left, he was decidedly not on the part of the Paris Commune, and portrays all of the Communards as scum and villains.  It's not a sympathetic portrayal, but it's a reminder of how intense the feelings were back in the time (The Debacle was published in 1892), and the big divide at the time between the moderate liberals and the radical left.

9. The Voice of the People by Jean Vautrin

Jean Vautrin is trying a little bit too hard to imitate Victor Hugo in this book.  (He's essentially trying to do for the Paris Commune what Victor Hugo did for the 1832 uprisings).   Jean Vautrin isn't quite on the same level as Victor Hugo, but it's an interesting little book nonetheless, which integrates a story about the redemption of an ex-convict, love, the criminal underworld, and the barricades of the Paris Commune.  Many real historical figures play a part in this book, including Louise Michel, Dombrowski, Gustave Courbet, and Jules Valles.

10. The Werewolf of Paris by Guy Endore

So, hear me out here, what if we took the story of the Paris Commune, and added werewolves?  Are you hooked yet?
Okay, I know it sounds ridiculous, but mixed in with the horror, there's actually a fair amount of accurate history in this book.  In addition to being a horror writer, Guy Endore was also an established historical novelist.  So he knew his history.
Many actual historical figures from the Paris Commune, like Raoul Rigault, the Commune’s head of police and Gustave Courbet, the Commune’s head of art, make appearances in this novel. The Picpus affair, in which the Commune discovered what appeared to be a secret prison and a secret graveyard in a Catholic Church (an issue still somewhat controversial to this day) is covered in detail. And Rigault’s famous conversation with a Jesuit priest is also faithfully recorded.

Books Related to the Paris Commune
The next 3 books all have large sections dealing with the Paris Commune, but none of them take the Paris Commune as their sole focus.

11. The World That Never Was: A True Story of Dreamers, Schemers, Anarchists, and Secret Agents by Alex Butterworth

The problem with many histories of the Paris Commune is that they stop in 1871.  But many of the Paris Communards had very fascinating lives that went on after 1871.  (Those that survived the massacre, that is.)  The first few chapters of this book are all about the Paris Commune, and the rest of the book tracks the lives of Paschal Grousset, Henri Rochefort, Louise Michel, and many of the other Paris Communards, in addition to building up a general history of the anarchist movement from 1871 to 1914

12. Louise Michel by Edith Thomas

This is similar to the above book, but this book focuses solely on the life of Louise Michel.  Louise Michel was the most prominent woman involved in the Paris Commune, and arguably the most prominent anarchist involved.  (By this point in the reading list, you'll have encountered her name many times). Somewhat less well-known is Louise Michel's continued activities in the anarchist movement after 1871.  She lived a long life after the Paris Commune (dying in 1905 at the age of 74) and she remained active in the anarchist movement during that time.

13. The Judgment of Paris by Ross King

This book is primarily an art history book, but it also deals with the Paris art scene in the years 1860s and 1870s, including their experiences during the Paris Commune.
The Paris Commune also has a special connection to art history. Gustave Courbet, a socialist realist painter, was a member of the commune. After the fall of the Commune, Courbet was one of the lucky ones to survive the firing squads, but he was convicted in court of being behind the Commune’s decision to topple the Vendome Column, and ordered to pay for its restitution, which financially ruined him for the rest of his life.
(The Vendome Column was a monument to the battles won in the Napoleonic Wars. The Paris Commune, with its emphasis on internationalism, decided to pull down this monument to military imperialism, only to have the Column rebuilt after the fall of Commune.)
Ross King’s book gave a lot of biographical information about Gustave Courbet both before and after the commune. (Although King’s book is primarily about Manet and Meissonier, a lot of other artists pop up in the narrative and Courbet is perhaps the 3rd most important figure in this book after its two main principles.)

Books on Karl Marx

Whenever talking about Karl Marx and the Paris Commune, it's important to distinguish between the myth and reality.  The myth is that Karl Marx helped to create the Paris Commune.  The reality is that he had very little to do with it.

However, although Karl Marx did very little do influence the Paris Commune, the Paris Commune did a lot to influence Karl Marx.  

The press attention from the Paris Commune, and the resulting red scare, changed Karl Marx from an obscure German philosopher to a household name almost overnight.  Therefore any biography of Marx must deal with the fallout from the Paris Commune.

14. Karl Marx: His Life and Environment by Isaiah Berlin

Berlin gives a surprisingly hostile account of the Paris Commune, which he appears to have based completely off the Bourgeois press. And he also advances the interesting idea that Marx actually opposed the Paris Commune because it was more along the lines of Bakunin's revolutionary ideology, but once it was clear the Commune was going to fall, Marx embraced it for the cynical reasons of the desire to link his name with the most infamous revolution in Europe at the time. Berlin is the first writer I have come across who claims this, and well it certainly is not an impossible conclusion, it would be nice if he gave some more evidence for it.

15. Karl Marx: An Intimate Biography by Saul Padover

Although the book is largely chronological, the last 20 years in England are divided up into chapters by subject. For example one chapter is on Das Kapital, on chapter is on the rise and fall of the First International, one chapter is on the Paris Commune.

In reality of course all of these subjects were intertwined. For example one of the reasons Marx got so little work done on Das Kapital (and never got around to finishing the subsequent volumes) was because of his involvement in the First Communist International. And the event that thrust the Communist International into the public spotlight was the Paris Commune.

Nevertheless, a fascinating read.

16. Karl Marx: A Life by Francis Wheen

Hmmm.  Actually I read this book ten years ago now, and I don't particularly remember what Francis Wheen had to say about the Paris Commune.  (This is where that disclaimer I put at the top comes in.)  But I do remember this being a really interesting biography in general.

Tangentially Related Books

17.  The Child by Jules Valles

So, remember The Insurrectionist by Jules Valles that I mentioned above?  That book is actually part of a trilogy of roman-a-clef memoirs that Jules Valles wrote about his life.  The first book is all about his childhood.  It has nothing to do with the Paris Commune per se, but it does provide some interesting background on the life of one of the men who would later grow up to be a famous Communard.

18. Clemenceau by Ted Gottfried

Just about every history of the Paris Commune will briefly mention Clemenceau, the radical mayor of Montematre, who unsuccessfully tried to negotiate a peace agreement between the Paris Commune and the French government.

Being a typical American with a typical American education, I never knew there was any more to the man than that for a long time.  Until I finally did some background reading, and found out that he later went on to become the leader of France during World War I. 

Link of the Day
Noam Chomsky on Paris Commune, OWS, Resurrection City (MLK)