Description
Book SynopsisFor some historians and biographers, Maximilien Robespierre (1758-94) was a great revolutionary martyr who succeeded in leading the French Republic to safety in the face of overwhelming military odds. This biography focuses on Robespierre's formative years and the development of an iron will in a frail boy conceived outside wedlock.
Trade Review"Peter McPhee seeks to get under the skin and into the mind of Robespierre, juxtaposing personal and political factors in a gripping narrative. Robespierre emerges less as the man who ruined the Revolution than as a man the Revolution ruined—by the time of his death in 1794 he was an ailing exhausted husk very different from the bright-eyed, committed and courageous politician of 1789. McPhee's interpretation will surprise and intrigue in equal measure."—Colin Jones -- Colin Jones
‘A wonderful, convincing study, splendidly analytical and evocative, and beautifully penned.’ - John Merriman, author of
A History of Modern Europe and
Dynamite Club: How a Bombing in Fin-de-siècle Paris Ignited the Age of Modern Terror -- John Merriman
‘This book is a triumph: an important, open-minded and often moving account of Robespierre, that will stand as a very worthy successor to the previous great biographies. Peter McPhee’s lifetime of research on the French Revolution draws out the context within which Robespierre’s words and actions can be better understood, and his insights into Robespierre’s youth, and the way he changed, displays a real understanding of Robespierre’s psychology. A great and lasting achievement.’ - Marisa Linton, author of
The Politics of Virtue in Enlightenment France -- Marisa Linton
