Surmounting the Barricades: Women in the Paris Commune

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Summary: A fascinating read!
Review: I loved this book! It is really relevant to today's political times. It shows how people can organize and promote their beliefs, even when the situation seems hopeless. The book will help people understand the roots of some of the protests we see today. It's also a must for people who are interested in European history. I knew a little about the French Revolution, but I had never heard about the 1871 uprising called the Paris Commune. Carolyn Eichner tells the inspiring stories of three very different women who became leaders in the 1871 insurrection. Readers find out how they blended feminist and socialist ideas to try to improve their city. You'll get caught up in their daring ideas and actions!

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Summary: Commune and its left intellectual sprectrum mapped
Review: In truly democratic and revolutionary moments a richer tapestry of ideas is allowed to unfurl that is today folded into "the two sides" to every political debate. One of the most vital examples of such an opening was the 1871 Paris Commune. Carolyn Eichner, a professor at the University of South Florida, has captivatingly explored some of the key ideologies of the period as they surfaced behind the barricades of France's last revolutionary moment.

Eichner uses the biographies of three Communard women to explore the socialisms and feminisms of the period. This approach is compelling because it allows for a consideration of the ideas not just in the vacuum of the two-month flowering of the Parisian uprising but as organic projects rising out of the Revolution of 1789 onward. These projects were transformed by the Commune and rethought in response to its failure and the bloody repression by the Versailles government. Each of the women brought different ideas, backgrounds and activism to bear in the three phases. Hence, the ideas and actions are embodied rather than abstracted - making them all the more compelling. With these three dramatic narratives, Eichner also uses the characterizations of André Léo, Paule Mink, Elisabeth Dmitrieff and other Communardes by the state officials to present a picture of the gender and social relations of the period by unpacking their portrayal and condemnation of these women and socialists in official documents.

This is a well written and researched work that should be added to the shelf of anyone interested in 19th century France and, especially, the flowering of the left intellectually in the period.