Between Justice and Politics: The Ligue des Droits de l'Homme, 1898-1945

Between Justice and Politics is a history of the first fifty years of the Ligue des droits de l'Homme-the League of the Rights of Man. This is the first book-length study of the Ligue in any language, and it is informed by the recently available archives of the organization. Founded during the Dreyfus Affair, the Ligue took as its mandate the defense of human rights in all their forms. The central argument of this book-and the point on which it differs from all other writings on the subject-is that the Ligue often failed to live up to its mandate because of its simultaneous commitment to left-wing politics. By the late 1930s the Ligue was in disarray, and by the 1940s a number of its members opted to defend the Vichy regime of Marshal Petain.