1848: King of French Newspapers

France can live without a king, but it cannot live without Mr. Dupont. He was the main engine of the French newspaper industry in the 19th century, an independent thinker who transcended party and class, and a powerful social critic whose words were like a horn, a torch, a cannonball, and a scalpel. In 1848, the February Revolution broke out. The old revolutionary base of France was transformed from a kingdom to a republic, and the total circulation of Paris newspapers surged from 50,000 to 600,000. In order to fill his stomach, 18-year-old street correspondent Léon Dupont could only risk his life to collect news by walking around the Tuileries Palace where the barricade war broke out. … Victor Hugo, a top figure in the literary world: I can only sing for France, but Léon Dupont can diagnose France. The romantic female writer George Sand: After seeing Léon's "La Vale", I couldn't wait to go to Paris and kiss him. Popularly elected Emperor Napoleon III: All my subjects regard me as Napoleon, only Léon Dupont regards me as Louis. Financial tycoon Rothschild family: When Léon Dupont picked up his pen, the financial aristocracy throughout Europe would tremble. The Schneider family, the arms kings: The "Journal of the Warrior" founded by Leon Dupont has enough lethality to be worth three thousand 64-pound smoothbore cannons. This is a story about the fourth power (press and public opinion/mass media) that flourished in Europe in the 19th century. … This book is also known as: "The Behind-the-Scenes Financiers of French Literary Heroes", "1848 Newspaper Boss: In the Name of the French Literary Sect", "The Fourth King of Power in France", "People in France, from Street Correspondent to Newspaper Tycoon"...