The Siege of Paris and the Commune 1870-1871
Written by Alistair Horne
Narrated by Marius Goring

A hundred years ago the bloodiest revolution in French history was finally crushed. Besieged first by Prussian armies under Bismarck, Parisians came near to starvation, eating rats from the gutters and eventually animals from the Zoo. Paris, the fount of western civilisation, was isolated for seven months when her only means of communication was by balloon or pigeon post.
Having endured the rigours of the siege, Parisians were then subjected to the horrors of civil war. The left-wing revolution of the Paris Commune was the climax to a Terrible Year.
(Getting the news out of besieged Paris: page 8)