author
Maxime Vuillaume
1844–1925
A sharp-eyed witness to the Paris Commune, he turned political upheaval and exile into vivid memoirs that still bring 19th-century France to life. Trained as an engineer, he also wrote with the curiosity of someone fascinated by science, society, and the modern world.
1 Audiobook
Mes cahiers rouges au temps de la Commune
by Maxime Vuillaume
About the author
Born in Saclas, France, in 1844, Maxime Vuillaume trained at the École des Mines and first made his name as an engineer. He worked on major public-works projects, including the Gotthard Tunnel, but his life reached far beyond technical work.
In the turbulent years around the Paris Commune of 1871, he became deeply involved in radical politics and journalism. After the Commune fell, he went into exile, and those experiences later fed the books that made him lastingly important as a memoirist and observer of the period.
Vuillaume is best remembered for his lively, detailed writings on the Commune, especially Mes Cahiers rouges and later collections such as Hommes et choses du temps de la Commune. His work stands out because it mixes firsthand memory, political passion, and a reporter’s eye for everyday detail, making history feel immediate and human.