The journey of Martin Nadaud : a life and turbulent times
"The journey of Martin Nadaud reconstructs the experiences of an ordinary man who rose to meet the challenges posed by extraordinary times. Through the life of a little-known French political figure, Gillian Tindall re-creates the world of France's master stonemasons - builders of the Pantheon and the Louvre - and brings to life the turbulent atmospheres of Paris and London during the nineteenth century." "Born into a poor family in the rocky heart of France, Martin Nadaud tramped hundreds of miles to Paris to find work at age fourteen. He became a stonemason, a revolutionary, and a member of Parliament. After the failure of the 1848 Revolution, he was forced into a long and lonely exile in England. Nadaud found work on the building sites of Victorian London and eventually, under an assumed name, became a schoolmaster in Wimbledon. He made his final triumphant return to his homeland in 1870, as France sat poised on the brink of humiliation, bloodshed, and rebirth."--Jacket
Print Book, English, 2000
1st U.S. ed
St. Martin's Press, New York, 2000