Rabble! A Story of the Paris Commune

Rabble by Geoffrey Fox is a short historical novel set during the Paris Commune of 1871 — the brief, radical workers’ government that took power in Paris after France’s defeat in the Franco-Prussian War.

Rather than focusing on famous leaders, Fox tells the story from the perspective of ordinary Parisians swept up in the uprising: street vendors, seamstresses, bricklayers, petty criminals, and soldiers, all struggling to survive and make sense of revolutionary ideals as the city descends into chaos.

Through multiple voices, the book explores the hopes, conflicts, and betrayals among the “rabble” — the people history usually overlooks — in the last desperate days before the French Army brutally crushes the Commune.