The contents are In four parts: Before the war (1838-1870); The war (1870-1871); The national assembly and the establishment of the republic (1871-1875); The early stages of the parliamentary republic (1876-1882).
“Ex-President Deschanel writes with the blend of lucidity and enthusiasm characteristic of the best French political literature.”
“This volume is full-blooded and vital in every chapter and in every paragraph. It is no fulsome panegyric, no noisy advertisement, but a balanced and critical, a knowing and a sympathetic portrait.”
– The Book Review Digest