Dimensions
132 x 208 x 23mm
The inspiring, little-known diary and letters of American diplomat Elihu Washburne, who gallantly provided vital support to his countrymen and other nationals during the brutal Siege of Paris and Paris Commune.
Elihu Washburne was a courageous antislavery advocate from Illinois in the House of Representatives from 1853 to 1869. During that time, he formed close personal friendships with Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant. Grant appointed Washburne minister to France, and he arrived in Paris during the second empire of Napoleon III.
Within a year, Prussia overwhelmed French forces in the Franco-Prussian War, climaxing in Prussian leader Otto von Bismarck's siege of Paris. During those dangerous months, Washburne bravely remained in the city and helped Americans and others to survive. When France surrendered, a ruthless revolutionary group overthrew the government, instituting popular rule known as the Commune.
Although permitted to conduct his diplomatic business, Washburne felt compelled to rescue those who were being unjustly persecuted. This book selects entries from the diary that Washburne kept during those horrific months, as well as letters he wrote, mostly to his wife, Adele. These remarkable and eloquent documents describe the horrors he witnessed, forming perhaps the best firsthand English-language account we have of these terrible events.
With a foreword by David McCullough, Michael Hill's book inspires with the knowledge of what one person can do in the face of ominous circumstances to aid those in need.
