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who espoused a secular state, and militants, who were Catholic and royalist. “Science” and “technological advancement” were pitted against “supernatural intervention,” and these were reflected in two of Paris’s most iconic monuments, the Eiffel Tower and Sacré-Coeur. Brown notes that “these two forces converged as never before during the tumultuous nineties, in the Dreyfus Affair.” The uncertain atmosphere made “cosmopolitan,” “modern,” and “intellectual” dirty words among the very vocal militants. Anti-Semitism and xenophobia reared their ugly heads, and foreign-born Jews in particular were singled out for every kind of vice. (And indeed, the line drawn from this to Vichy, little more than forty years later, is perfectly straight: the Nazis first asked for all foreign-born Jews to be rounded up, and Vichy officials were only too happy to comply.) Brown delves deep into fin de siècle Paris and France, and he brilliantly reveals how the conflicting opinions of the 1800s were not resolved when Dreyfus was acquitted, twelve years after his arrest.

Here is the original article that appeared on the front page of the New York Times on July 22, 1906, detailing the official ceremony that marked his army reinstatement.

Dreyfus Is Decorated Where He Was Degraded

Cross of the Legion of Honor Pinned on His Breast.

Officers Congratulate Him

Ceremony in the Courtyard of the Military School–

An Attack of Heart Weakness Afterward.

Paris, July 21—In the presence of a distinguished military assemblage Major Alfred Dreyfus, wearing the full uniform of his rank, this afternoon received the Cross of Chevalier of the Legion of Honor. The ceremony, which took place in the courtyard of the military school, was rendered doubly impressive by being held on the very spot where the buttons and gold lace were stripped off Dreyfus’s uniform and his sword was broken twelve years ago.

The decoration of the Major assumed the aspect of a notable demonstration. His brother officers, who were prominent figures in various stages of the controversy, were among the spectators, and outside the circle of troops stood Mme. Dreyfus and the little son of Dreyfus, Brig. Gen. Picquart, who shared in the court’s acquittal of the famous prisoner, Anatole France of the French Academy, and Alfred Capus, and other literary men, who aided in Zola’s campaign for a revision of the first trial.

Previous to the ceremony Major Dreyfus was presented to Gen. Gillain, commander of the First Division of Cavalry, Gen. Percin, and other prominent officers, who warmly shook hands with him, testifying their satisfaction at his return to the army. The officers then repaired to the courtyard, where trumpeters sounded four calls announcing the ceremony.

The courtyard, from which the general public were excluded, as the ceremony was purely official, was encircled by two batteries of the thirteenth artillery, commanded by Col. Targe, who made the recent discoveries at the war office leading to the rehearing of the case against Dreyfus and his acquittal.

Gen. Gillain, accompanied by a number of army officials, entered the circle with trumpets and drums sounding. Major Dreyfus took up a position by the side of Col. Targe, while Gen. Gillain, stepping into the center of the circle, announced the decoration of Targe as a Commander and Dreyfus as a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor. Dreyfus and Targe, with their sabers drawn, then advanced to the center of the troops, taking a position before Gen. Gillain. The latter first bestowed the decoration on Targe, and then, turning to Dreyfus, the General said:

“In the name of the President of the Republic and in virtue of the powers intrusted to me, Major Dreyfus, I hereby name you a Chevalier of the National Order of the Legion of Honor.”

After pinning the cross on Dreyfus’s breast and felicitating him on his well-earned honor, the General gave the Major the military accolade, the trumpets sounding and the spectators applauding. Dreyfus briefly expressed his acknowledgements.

The troops then defiled before Gen. Gillain, Dreyfus occupying