Vendor
	Mohrbooks Literary Agency Sebastian Ritscher
Original language
English
Categories
Politics & government

ELIHU WASHBURNE

Michael Hill

The Diary and Letters of America’s Minister to France During the Siege and Commune of Paris

The remarkable and inspiring story—told largely in his own words—of American diplomat Elihu Washburne, who heroically aided his countrymen and other nationals when Paris was devastated by war and revolution in 1870-1871.

A former Congressman and friend of Presidents Lincoln and Grant, Elihu Washburne was appointed U.S. Minister to France just before the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian war. Alone among major-power foreign diplomats, Washburne remained in Paris throughout a siege by Prussian forces. As Parisians starved and shivered through the winter, Washburne aided Americans and other nationals with food and fuel. When the siege ended, the government fell to radicals who instituted a brutal new regime, the Commune, slaughtering innocent people, among them the Catholic archbishop. Once again Washburne helped wherever he could, earning commendation not only from his own government but from the Prussians and French as well.
Washburne's letters and diaries from the time vividly describe the horrors he witnessed. Accompanied by Michael Hill's invaluable commentary, they form the best firsthand account we have of these terrible events. They also quietly inspire us with the example of what one person can do in the worst circumstances to aid those in need and earn admiration for himself and his country.

As a historical researcher for over forty years, Michael Hill has assisted such authors as: David McCullough, Jon Meacham, Sebastian Junger, Nathaniel Philbrick, Evan Thomas, Michael Korda, Senator John McCain, James Bradley (author of "Flags of Our Fathers"), Susan Eisenhower, Michael Beschloss, and Caroline Kennedy. He won an Emmy in 1991 for his work as a co-producer on the Ken Burns PBS "Civil War" series narrated by David McCullough. He also served as a historical consultant on the HBO mini-series, "John Adams" produced by Tom Hanks, and the ABC-TV mini-series, "Challenger" about the space shuttle disaster.
Hill is the author of "Elihu Washburne: The Diary and Letters of America's Minister to France During the Siege and Commune of Paris" (with a foreword by historian David McCullough), and "War Poet: The Life of Alan Seeger and His Rendezvous With Death"

Available products
Book Published 2012-11-01 by Simon & Schuster
Book Published 2012-11-01 by Simon & Schuster

Comments

Michael Hill has made superb use of Elihu Washburne’s private diaries to bring us an unforgettable story of starvation, conflict, butchery and upheaval in the beleaguered Paris of the 1870s—and of the principled, courageous American who survived and recorded it all.

Elihu Washburne was the eloquent witness to one of the most horrifying sieges of the 19th century. Thanks to the archival and editorial wizardry of Michael Hill, Washburne’s long-forgotten account of the Siege and Commune of Paris is available at last—a terrific and mesmerizing read.

Elihu Washburne was the American ambassador to Paris but he might as well have been the ambassador to Hell. As Mike Hill shows us by skillfully editing and commenting on the ambassador’s diary and personal letters, Washburne, a brave and sensitive man, was caught up in one of civilization’s great disasters: the siege of Paris by the Prussian army in 1870-1871 and the even more awful grip of the Paris Commune that followed. A gripping, well-told tale.

Michael Hill’s engrossing, ground-breaking and fascinating book is both a journey of discovery—the amazing diaries and letters of Elihu Washburne, the American Minister to France during the Siege and the Commune of Paris—and a wonderful portrait of the man who ‘discovered’ Ulysses S. Grant, was one of Lincoln’s closest collaborators, and set a benchmark for American diplomats in terms of courage and the alleviation of human suffering in a moment of great danger and crisis. It is riveting reading for anyone who loves history.