Sunil Iyengar reviews ‘Flaubert in the Ruins of Paris’ (2017) by Peter Brooks

“When Flaubert came to write Sentimental Education, he was looking back on at the failed revolution of 1848. … In 1870-1871, soon after Sentimental Education saw print, Paris was gripped by another revolution, leading to another radical experiment in self-government (the ill-fated Paris Commune), which yet again provoked a brutal crackdown from reactionary forces.”