Description
Book SynopsisThe story of a poor man and radical activist who fought to revive the French Revolution, and whose failure heralded the republic’s defeat
Trade Review“Segments of
The Last Revolutionaries are cinematic (the story would make for a gripping screenplay). And Mason writes about complex concepts, such as the notion of the legitimate insurrection, with clarity, impressing on the reader the urgency of contemporary political debates.”—Rhys Jones,
Financial Times“A superbly-realised vision of Gracchus Babeuf, a man who emerged from poverty with a fiery and humane idealism, and whose bitter defeat opened the road from revolutionary justice to cynical tyranny.”—David Andress, University of Portsmouth
“Mason brilliantly explores the public debate engendered by the trial of Babeuf and so doing provides a new interpretation of the demise of the French Revolution.”—Timothy Tackett, author of
Becoming a Revolutionary“A new and striking account of the life, ideas, following and fate of a neglected French revolutionary whose attempts to balance social justice, individual freedom and democracy speak powerfully to current concerns.”—Colin Jones, author of
The Great Nation“Very much a book for our times. Mason’s retelling of the trial of Gracchus Babeuf and the French Revolution shows how democracies end. Historians of revolutions and all those concerned with the arc of social justice movements have much to learn from this remarkable story.”—Sophia Rosenfeld, University of Pennsylvania
