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Welcome to the website for "The Les Misérables Reading Companion," where you'll find all the episodes of this podcast about Victor Hugo's Les Misérables, plus extras relating to what I've discussed there. 

This page is a work in progress. Come back early and often for updates!

The comment function on this page was giving us trouble--comments disappearing, that sort of thing--so I've shut it off...

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  2. Episode 27 extras

Episode 27 extras

Jul 10, 2018

Lots of politics today, a subject that it's hard not to distort when simplifying or summarizing. I prioritized what you need to know for Les Misérables, but if you want to know more in this area, I recommend looking beyond Hugo's rather idiosyncratic view. There are lots of good books on this topic; I suggest a general history of France, or something focusing on the "long nineteenth century" (1789-1914) to start with. For the more listening-inclined, I will again recommend the Revolution's podcast; there are series on the (first) French revolution and on the Revolution of 1830, with a lot of the politics of this period explained in the latter in particular. He also has an extensive bibliography on the topic on his website. For those who like a visual chronology, here is a concise summary of the 19th century in France from a political perspective. 

I have also added the locations of the Friends of the ABC's two main haunts, Corinthe and the Café Musain, to our Google map. 

And here are links, if you're interested, to the Henri Murger novel Scènes de la Vie de Bohème (French) / Bohemians of the Latin Quarter (English).