The Man on Devil's Island

Ruth Harris is a Fellow and tutor in Modern History at New College, Oxford and is the author of the highly acclaimed Lourdes.

Winner of the prestigious WOLFSON HISTORY PRIZE 2010 and 2010 NATIONAL JEWISH BOOK AWARD FOR BIOGRAPHY Prizes and awards Ruth Harris' minutely detailed examination of the rich mulch from which the Dreyfus case sprouted its fleurs du mal, adds a new level of learning to the affair that defined 20th-century France -- Nigel Jones Telegraph An extraordinary study of the affair as a tragic drama that swept up a man, his family and friends, and more widely French society and the French state -- Robert Gildea The New York Review of Books Ruth Harris offers us one of the most thorough and eloquent accounts of this turbulent episode -- Gavin Bowd Scotland on Sunday A triumph of research and analysis -- Max McGuinness The Irish Times With the aid of copious illustrations, helpful chronology and a list of leading characters, [Harris] offers a compelling account of incidents. -- Malcolm Cook BBC History Magazine A highly imaginative, deeply-researched inquiry into the battle over Dreyfus which revels in paradox and complexity -- Michael Marrus TLS Harris is a first-rate narrative historian... What marks Harris's contribution is her formidable research skills, her exceptionally wide general and historical reading, and her always interesting eye for the revealing anecdote or pen portrait -- Carmen Callil The Guardian Scrupulous and well-written... Harris is to be thanked for the care and measure of her sifting and weighing, and for the deep historical perspective that she brings to the undertaking -- Christopher Hitchens The Weekly Standard Harris's excellent Dreyfus deserves a wide audience for its patient, fair-minded exploration of human ideals, delusions, prejudices, hatreds and follies -- Leo Damrosch New York Times Book Review