Historian Bertrand Taithe here offers a gripping account of one of the most disturbing atrocities to take place during the European "scramble for Africa," a real life story that prefigures fictional accounts such as The Heart of Darkness. The Voulet-Chanoine mission left Dakar in 1898 for the Lake Chad region, hoping to establish effective borders between the French and British empires and "pacify" a notoriously belligerent region. The mission soon degenerated into a grisly display of colonial violence, leaving a trail of pillage, murder, and enslavement in its wake. When the story of its outrages reached Paris, there was a public uproar and a second mission was dispatched to investigate. Eventually, on July 14 1899, the two missions clashed in a dramatic shootout, which led Voulet and Chanoine to declare independence from France and to establish an African kingdom under their own rule. But their mad dreams of kingship were cut short when the African soldiers under their command mutinied and killed them both. Was this bloody episode the consequence of two men's madness, or of a far wider set of attitudes?

The Killer Trail: A Colonial Scandal in the Heart of Africa

History

Taithe, Bertrand

Africa

Oxford University Press

The Killer Trail tells the tale of one of the most notorious atrocities to take place during the European 'scramble for Africa', a real life story of insane violence in the heart of an exotic continent that eerily prefigures fictional accounts such as The Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now. The Voulet-Chanoine mission left Dakar in 1898 for the centre of Africa and the region of Lake Chad with the aim of establishing effective borders between the French and British empires while 'pacifying' a notoriously belligerent region. Wreaking havoc as it went along, the mission degenerated into an extraordinary display of colonial violence and cruelty, leaving a trail of pillage, murder, and enslavement of the local inhabitants in its wake. When the story of its outrages reached Paris in 1899 there was a public uproar and a second mission was dispatched to investigate. Eventually, on July 14 1899, the two missions met and confronted each other in a dramatic shootout, which led Voulet and Chanoine to declare their independence from France and their desire to establish an African kingdom under their own rule. But their mad dreams of kingship were soon cut short when they fell prey to a mutiny among the African soldiers under their command in which they were both killed. The whole bizarre tale of Voulet and Chanoine's mission sharply divided opinion back home in France but was eventually explained away as the action of two deranged minds. Yet, as Bertrand Taithe shows, it was not simply a tale of individual insanity. In many ways, the actions of Voulet and Chanoine and their men simply took the violence of European colonialism to a logical extreme, while the way in which the whole affair was soon forgotten is highly revealing of western attitudes to imperial excess in Africa and elsewhere.

This volumes offers a comprehensive and critical overview of ideas of how virilité has been imagined in France from the Eighteenth century. Incorporating insights of cultural and social historians, this collection approaches masculinities in a complex and interdisciplinary manner that will appeal to a wide range of readers.

French Masculinities: History, Politics and Culture

Forth, Christopher E.

Europe

PALGRAVE~MACMILLAN

The early years of democracy in France were marked by a society divided by civil war, class war and violent conflict. Citizenship and Wars explores the concept of citizenship in a time of social and political upheaval, and considers what the conflict meant for citizen-soldiers, women, children and the elderly. This highly original argument based on primary research brings new life to debates about the making of French identity in the 19th century. Putting the latest theoretical thinking into empirical use, the author assesses how the function of the state and its citizens changed during the Paris Commune and Franco-Prussian War. The study considers fresh issues such as: *how the people coped with the collapse of their government *what the upheaval meant for the provinces of France *how the issue of citizenship affected religious identities *the differences between colonial Algeria and metropolitan France.

Citizenship and Wars: France in Turmoil 1870-1871

Taithe, Dr Bertrand

Routledge

Citizenship and Wars

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-siècle 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.

Defeated flesh: Welfare, warfare and the making of modern France

Manchester University Press

Defeated Flesh is a compelling study of the French defeat of 1870 and the socialist uprising of the Commune of Paris, a crucial turning point in the making of modern France. By examining the history of the body and medicine, Taithe shows how the French mobilized for the war effort and how their ultimate defeat had devastating cultural and social consequences that led to the fin de siècle spirit. Reinterpreting the siege of Paris, the physical suffering caused by the war, and rationing in an exceptionally harsh period of French history, the author challenges current debates on citizenship, centralism, and modern warfare. Taithe’s original approach and the wide range of previously untouched source material he draws upon cast a new light on the social aspirations behind the world’s first socialist uprising and on the fears of national decline so common in Western Europe before 1914. This intriguing and highly original study will be of interest to all readers of French history and of European and French culture, as well as to specialists on the history of war and medicine.

Defeated Flesh: Medicine, Society, and the Birth of Modern France

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Defeated Flesh is a compelling study of the French defeat of 1870 and the socialist uprising of the Commune of Paris, a crucial turning point in the making of modern France. By examining the history of the body and medicine, Taithe shows how the French mobilized for the war effort and how their ultimate defeat had devastating cultural and social consequences that led to the fin de si_cle spirit. Reinterpreting the siege of Paris, the physical suffering caused by the war, and rationing in an exceptionally harsh period of French history, the author challenges current debates on citizenship, centralism, and modern warfare. TaitheOs original approach and the wide range of previously untouched source material he draws upon cast a new light on the social aspirations behind the worldOs first socialist uprising and on the fears of national decline so common in Western Europe before 1914. This intriguing and highly original study will be of interest to all readers of French history and of European and French culture, as well as to specialists on the history of war and medicine.

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

This work brings together a collection of articles around the concepts of propaganda and political rhetoric from the 14th century to 1999. It is divided into seven thematic and chronological sections which respond to some of the historiographical debates on these subjects. The first section is devoted to the late medieval and early-modern periods and deals with "proto-propaganda". The second part deals with the revolutionary century, 1789 to 1871. Esays examine the effect of British anti-revolutionary propaganda in Central Europe. Part three concentrates on 19th-century uses of propaganda and focuses on gender, while the central part of the book covers World War I and discusses the generalized use of self-conscious propaganda in the context of mass mobilization of for war. The following section on the inter-war years looks at the many different uses of propaganda and new media. The penultimate section on World War II looks at the use of propaganda in intelligence and counter-intelligence warfare. The last section looks at American film and television, revising many crude arguments on US expansionism, and the book concludes with an essay on psychological operations in the era of CNN televised warfare.

Propaganda: Political Rhetoric and Identity 1300-2000 (Themes in History)

Military

Sutton Pub Ltd

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Books by Taithe, Bertrand

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Taithe, Bertrand. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Killer Trail: A Colonial Scandal in the Heart of Africa

The Killer Trail: A Colonial Scandal in the Heart of Africa

French Masculinities: History, Politics and Culture

Citizenship and Wars: France in Turmoil 1870-1871

Citizenship and Wars

Defeated flesh: Welfare, warfare and the making of modern France

Defeated Flesh: Medicine, Society, and the Birth of Modern France

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

Propaganda: Political Rhetoric and Identity 1300-2000 (Themes in History)

Citizenship and Wars: France in Turmoil 1870-1871