Communal Luxury: The Political Imaginary of the Paris Commune

Kristin Ross, Communal Luxury: The Political Imaginary of the Paris Commune London: Verso, 2015; 148 pp; ISBN 9781781688397 Despite its modest size, Kristin Ross's book is as luxuriant in detail, as elegantly and clearly expressed, and as original in conception as the 'Pimpernel' wallpaper design by William Morris that adorns the dust-jacket. The Commune's principles of voluntary federation and free association, centred on their notion of 'the Universal Republic' that went 'beyond the cellular regime of nationality', are explored through the likes of the Women's Union for the Defence of Paris and Aid to the Wounded; famed shoemaker Napoléon Gaillard, philosopher of the shoe, builder and artist of the barricade, and inventor of rubber galoshes; and Eugène Pottier, decorative artist, champion of integral education and author of the 'International' which he dedicated to fellow Communard Gustave Lefrançais.