frandroid

Read The Trial of the Century, where Adam Gopnik revisits the Dreyfus Affair, expounds on its importance today with brief references to Guantanamo Bay and the War on Terror, and interestingly concludes on the meaning of multiculturalism (not as a state policy, but as personal status, such as being bi- or tri-cultural (bonus points for the Québécois reference which had me laughing)).

The English wikipedia entry is a quick summary, but if you can read it, the French entry is a pretty epic endeavour and gives you the full flavour of this important episode of modernity. I just noticed that there is a whole Affaire Dreyfus series, which denotes the importance of the Affair to, according to Gopnick, "the central question of modern French history: nation or republic?"

(hat tip: Chanchal Bhattacharya)