Alsace and Lorraine, from Caesar to Kaiser, 58 B.C.-1871 A.D.

by Ruth Putnam

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Genres: History

252 pages, ebook

Published January 1, 2015

About the author

1856-1931

Reviews

[Matt Kuhns · Rating 3 out of 5]

In 1915, one Ruth Putnam elected to write a small volume on the history of Alsace & Lorraine, adjoining regions regularly contested by France and Germany. Per her own words, her work was "a large subject being given short shrift" in the interests of publishing while said subject was of renewed interest. (One imagines that, like most people, Ms. Putnam had no idea that the latest Franco-German war would last nearly four more years.)

Judged by its original intent, Alsace and Lorraine is not a bad book at all. Being now nearly a century old the style is somewhat stiff and the survey does, indeed, seem rather brief; the general impression is of a longish encyclopedia article rather than a book-length narrative. Also, I cannot be certain but strongly suspect that Putnam knew Alsace and Lorraine largely if not entirely from books rather than from any personal experience.

This odd little artifact was reissued in 1971, perhaps to capitalize on the centenary of the Treaty of Frankfort that transferred the two provinces from France to Germany (until the Treaty of Versailles). Given all that happened to Alsace and Lorraine during the 56 years since Putnam wrote, its 1971 reissue hints at a publisher seeking an even quicker route to a "quickie" book to cash in on an anniversary.

Meanwhile I have to imagine that if no better English-language treatments of the subject existed in 1971, at least one must have appeared during the additional 42 years since then. This is what I found on the shelves, though; if you should chance upon it, it's a small volume and may be worth a little time. If nothing else, it's absolutely worth opening the book to examine the multiple fold-out maps, at least one of which unfolds both horizontally and vertically. Wonderfully novel and strange; who does something like that or, indeed, ever did?

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good overview of the history of Alsace and Lorraine, two provinces that were much in the news when this book was published (1914). Alsace and Lorrain are two very different provinces populated by very different peoples. They were fought over by the French and the Germans right up to the mid-20th century. As another reviewer said, the author gives the impression that she never visited the places that she is describing. Since it was written over a century ago, some of the research is outdated. Nevertheless, it is a good starting point for information about this unique region of Europe and one of the only books in English on the subject.

[J.A. Stein · Rating 2 out of 5]

I know this is an oldie, but the reprinted version I bought was complete with handwritten typo corrections and a lot of blank, wasted pages. Not an easy read, and even more disappointing was that its coverage of the geographic area from years 58BC to about 1500 AD concludes on page 38. The rest of the book is from the 16th century onward, with a focus on the late 1800's. 1500 years of history in 38 tiny pages? That's a bit misleading.