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'Drawing on a wealth of primary sources, amply quoted... and exhibiting a solid command of the vast secondary literature, Dolan paints a vivid picture of what was at stake in discussions of Wagner's and Manet's merits... The book is generously illustrated, with portraits of the writers and artists featured, reproductions of many of the works discussed, and caricatures and cartoons from the press... Readers will come away from this study with a far richer appreciation not only of Manet's painting but also of the vast canvas of the arts scene, with its friendships, rivalries, and public debates, in mid-nineteenth-century Paris.' French Studies

'The richness of Dolan's book lies in the wealth of literary-critical, artistic, and musical perspectives it brings into view ... Dolan's sure command of the primary sources attests to long immersion in these materials, and she has an admirable gift for evoking the texture of Parisian life for a choice group of artists, musicians, and critics circa 1862 ...' Nineteenth-Century French Studies

The book is a joy and a revelation. H-France

'This book offers interesting angles on what could be called the "dawn of modernism". It is thoroughly researched, and its many apt illustrations testify (among other things) to the vigorous art of caricature in the period.' New Zealand Journal of French Studies