The Incredible Honeymoon (Bantam Series No. 46)
“The British Ambassador and the British Consul did leave on September 19th, an action which provoked considerable anger, both at home and among the British left in Paris.Balloons carrying dispatches and mail took off at the rate of two or three a week. Sixty-five balloons actually left Paris during the Siege, of which only four fell into enemy hands.The Siege dragged on. Early in October Parisians began to eat horseflesh; from mid-November the Zoo provided exotic menus. No animal was exempt.A journalist colleague of Henry Labouchere—the details about him are factual—wrote during the first days of January—“I have now dined off camel, antelope, dog, donkey, mule and elephant.”There was a notable price difference between ‘brewery’ rats and sewer rats and there were 380 cases of smallpox in January. The final capitulation of Paris to the Prussians took place on January 27th, 1871, but no Prussian troops were to enter Paris for the duration of the armistice which was to last until February ...19th.The terms were harsh; Paris was to pay an indemnity of two hundred million francs, surrender the perimeter forts to the Prussians, and throw the rampart guns into the moats.Henry Labouchere, having lived through the Siege and the terrible aftermath, returned home to British Political life.MoreLess
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