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Danton
Danton: Gentle Giant of Terror
In this new biography, David Lawday, author of the acclaimed Napoleon's Master, a life of Talleyrand, turns his focus to the life of Georges-Jacques Danton, tragic hero incarnate.
A beefy six-foot bull of a man, with a rude farmyard face to match, Danton was destined to bring a violent end to an absolute monarchy that had ruled for a thousand years.But it was not his alarming physique that placed him at the head of the Revolution.His weapon of revolt was his voice - a perpetual roll of thunder that spurred men to action without his quite knowing where he intended to drive them.To hear Danton was to hear the heartbeat of revolution.Together with the puritanical Robespierre - his rival to death and in most every way his opposite - Danton brought about something rare in history:a change in the human social order.The reckless ride from monarchy to republic was a mass social revolution that upended the most populous country in Europe - an upheaval so uniquely radical in spirit that formed the root - if not quite of that liberty and equality its makers dreamed of - at least of the liberal, democratic society in which a good part of the world is fairly content to live today.What manner of man makes such stupendous things happen?
With prose that is immediate and engaging, Lawday examines the personalities and the associations that inspired and fuelled the Revolution.The power of Danton's oratory, and his charismatic appeal, led him to the centre of power at the height of a period of turbulent change.But he was to become a victim of Revolution himself, facing the guillotine - defiant to the end - at the age of thirty-four.
304 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 1, 2009
24 people are currently reading
398 people want to read
About the author
David Lawday
6 books7 followersDavid Lawday is a native of London, educated there and at Oxford. He is a writer and journalist who was a correspondent for twenty years with The Economist. He is now based in Paris where his son and daughter grew up and where he lives with his French wife.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
July 21, 2025
At only 264 pages before notes, this was an incredibly comprehensive read on the rise and fall of Georges Jacques Danton.
He was a key player in the overthrow of the French Monarchy in September of 1792 and the establishment of the First French Republic.
Danton was described as a mountain of a man. Huge hands and muscular arms.
His face was scared by smallpox, and his nose had been crushed by a bull on the commune farm where his family lived when he was only 7 years old. His mouth was also scarred by a childhood injury.
He had a photographic memory and a disconnect disability when trying to write.
All his speeches were delivered with a booming voice that was said, could shake a room. He seldom wrote a letter. His words were committed to his memory.
In 1789, Danton emerged as a powerful orator, delivering speeches in the Palais Royal
It served as a site for radical political meetings and, after the execution of Louis XVI, was briefly renamed Palais de l'Égalité.
These speeches gained him popularity and the nickname "The Thunderer."
Danton was not directly involved in the storming of the Bastille, but he played a significant role in the events leading up to it and in the aftermath.
He was the president of the Cordeliers Club. This was a populist radical political society during the French Revolution. Its famous members were:
Camille Desmoulins
Georges Danton
Jean Paul Marat and
Jacques-Rene-Hebert.
This was the first group to push for a French Republic.
They coined the famous motto: "Liberty, Equality,Fraternity!"
Danton fell from power due to primarily his increasingly moderate stance on the Reign of Terror and the resulting conflict with the radical revolutionaries.
He went against Robespierre and the Committee of Public Safety. They belonged to the powerful Jacobin Club.
The Montagnards, a radical and leftist grouping of politicians, were also a faction of the Jacobins.
They were named for their seating on the highest benches in the assembly hall. Robespierre was able to influence them.
They viewed Danton as their enemy.
Danton and his associates were arrested on the night of March 29–30, 1794.
Georges Danton spoke before the Revolutionary Tribunal.
Danton spoke brilliantly, but despite all his efforts, the tribunal found him and his allies guilty. They were all sentenced to death and guillotined on April 5, 1794.
Dantons' last words were: “N'oubliez pas de montrer ma tête au peuple, elle en vaut la peine."
"(Don't forget to show my head to the people. It is well worth seeing).”
Georges Jacques Danton was truly a Titan of History.
Five Stars
He was a key player in the overthrow of the French Monarchy in September of 1792 and the establishment of the First French Republic.
Danton was described as a mountain of a man. Huge hands and muscular arms.
His face was scared by smallpox, and his nose had been crushed by a bull on the commune farm where his family lived when he was only 7 years old. His mouth was also scarred by a childhood injury.
He had a photographic memory and a disconnect disability when trying to write.
All his speeches were delivered with a booming voice that was said, could shake a room. He seldom wrote a letter. His words were committed to his memory.
In 1789, Danton emerged as a powerful orator, delivering speeches in the Palais Royal
It served as a site for radical political meetings and, after the execution of Louis XVI, was briefly renamed Palais de l'Égalité.
These speeches gained him popularity and the nickname "The Thunderer."
Danton was not directly involved in the storming of the Bastille, but he played a significant role in the events leading up to it and in the aftermath.
He was the president of the Cordeliers Club. This was a populist radical political society during the French Revolution. Its famous members were:
Camille Desmoulins
Georges Danton
Jean Paul Marat and
Jacques-Rene-Hebert.
This was the first group to push for a French Republic.
They coined the famous motto: "Liberty, Equality,Fraternity!"
Danton fell from power due to primarily his increasingly moderate stance on the Reign of Terror and the resulting conflict with the radical revolutionaries.
He went against Robespierre and the Committee of Public Safety. They belonged to the powerful Jacobin Club.
The Montagnards, a radical and leftist grouping of politicians, were also a faction of the Jacobins.
They were named for their seating on the highest benches in the assembly hall. Robespierre was able to influence them.
They viewed Danton as their enemy.
Danton and his associates were arrested on the night of March 29–30, 1794.
Georges Danton spoke before the Revolutionary Tribunal.
Danton spoke brilliantly, but despite all his efforts, the tribunal found him and his allies guilty. They were all sentenced to death and guillotined on April 5, 1794.
Dantons' last words were: “N'oubliez pas de montrer ma tête au peuple, elle en vaut la peine."
"(Don't forget to show my head to the people. It is well worth seeing).”
Georges Jacques Danton was truly a Titan of History.
Five Stars
July 14, 2025
The author, David Lawday, repeatedly stresses Danton’s ugliness, brute strength and lack of any extant written correspondence/speeches/articles attributable to Danton, which caused me to wonder not only why the necessity for so much emphasis on his physical features, but also what were the author’s sources if his subject, Danton, never wrote down what he said? However, as I learned, late eighteenth-century Paris had a proliferation of daily journals and penny papers, and anyone worth listening to—as Danton surely was—had enough people more than eager and able to catch his words for posterity. He was also such a dynamic speaker, powerful, extemporaneous, instinctively knowing how to speak to motivate and thrill his audience.
Lawday wants his readers to understand how Danton’s manly prowess drove most of his actions, some positively to his credit and the benefit of himself, France and the Revolution, but also some negatively and to the detriment of the same, such as a return to his beloved home in Arcis-sur-Aube (Champagne in northeastern France) at a time when each day, each hour the power shifts changed. Danton had always returned to his childhood home to rest and regain strength (by swimming laps back-and-forth across the river!), but this time, he went away at the wrong time and stayed away far too long.
Lawday also frequently contrasted Danton’s forceful personality, style and looks with those of Robespierre, nicknamed, ‘The Incorruptible’ considered puritanical by most who knew him. He was almost Danton’s polar opposite: “To the burly Danton, Robespierre looked half a man, a milksop.” pg. 46.
As 1793 rolled into 1794 and Danton and Camille Desmoulins* began to see the folly of the increasing horror of the Terror, they became outspokenly critical of Robespierre over its continued proliferation, which sealed their doom. They also knew that Robespierre’s refusal to let go of the policy of the Terror would be his own demise; they tried to tell him, in vain.
A rifting look at the French Revolution from the perspective of Danton, who was as the title says, ‘A Giant of the French Revolution’. He was a giant physically it’s true, but also in terms of his heart, his life, the impact he made on those who knew him, and his immense love for liberté, égalité, fraternité for his country.
*Schoolmate to Robespierre and friend of Danton.
Lawday wants his readers to understand how Danton’s manly prowess drove most of his actions, some positively to his credit and the benefit of himself, France and the Revolution, but also some negatively and to the detriment of the same, such as a return to his beloved home in Arcis-sur-Aube (Champagne in northeastern France) at a time when each day, each hour the power shifts changed. Danton had always returned to his childhood home to rest and regain strength (by swimming laps back-and-forth across the river!), but this time, he went away at the wrong time and stayed away far too long.
Lawday also frequently contrasted Danton’s forceful personality, style and looks with those of Robespierre, nicknamed, ‘The Incorruptible’ considered puritanical by most who knew him. He was almost Danton’s polar opposite: “To the burly Danton, Robespierre looked half a man, a milksop.” pg. 46.
As 1793 rolled into 1794 and Danton and Camille Desmoulins* began to see the folly of the increasing horror of the Terror, they became outspokenly critical of Robespierre over its continued proliferation, which sealed their doom. They also knew that Robespierre’s refusal to let go of the policy of the Terror would be his own demise; they tried to tell him, in vain.
A rifting look at the French Revolution from the perspective of Danton, who was as the title says, ‘A Giant of the French Revolution’. He was a giant physically it’s true, but also in terms of his heart, his life, the impact he made on those who knew him, and his immense love for liberté, égalité, fraternité for his country.
*Schoolmate to Robespierre and friend of Danton.
September 25, 2014
On a fine spring afternoon in Paris three centuries ago the extraordinary life of the brawny hero of the sans-culottes, the man who had led revolutionary France through it's difficult infancy, Georges-Jacques Danton, was ended on the guillotine. His mighty voice, once the brashest trumpet of radicalism, which had helped to condemn a king to the same fate, was silenced, for advocating moderation and humanity amid the growing paranoia and violence of the revolution. Facing death not with courage, but rather with petulant daring; pock-marked, ugly-as-sin Danton claimed an existential triumph over the forces which destroyed him, with the defiant humour of his last words to the executioner: "Show my head to the people. It's well worth a look".
This is the Danton of David Lawday's excellent biography: the fearless voice of compassion at a time of terror, the flamboyant orator who sometimes let his rhetoric get out of hand, the man who could be bribed, but never bought - the bull in the china shop. It is an impressionistic and admiring portrait, if ultimately it is too forgiving.
The characterisation in this book is, from a narrative perspective really excellent. Lawday describes the clash of personalities between the ascetic purist Robespierre and the populist sybarite Danton which ultimately led to their fatal falling out with a refined dramatic instinct. Likewise the psychology of the hatred felt for Danton by Mme Roland, a key figure in the federalist Girondin movement is well explored, even if the author's analysis - that this coarse manly ogre both repelled and fascinated her - is laced with insinuation which could be viewed patronising or even chauvinistic. There is a larger problem with the characterisation, which is that the historical and political disputes sometimes take a back seat to the psychological drama. Explaining these figures' motives from the scraps left to history, is a matter of intuition and guesswork, which the author does very well, but which does involve some dramatic license.
The book praises Danton's actions as the de facto wartime leader of the revolution in 1793. The levee-en-masse is singled out as one of his greatest achievements, conscription on an unprecedented scale helped to protect the fledgling republic from the Austrian and Prussian armies. His shrewd diplomacy and politics that year are equally lauded. Even in his moment of triumph though, Danton was establishing what would become the twin engines of violence during the revolutionary terror, the committee of public safety and the revolutionary tribunal, which aimed to try, condemn and execute its victims within twenty-four hours. Lawday forgives this too easily. Danton created these bodies to control the bloody passions of the Parisian mob, and to suppress a perceived fifth column of royalists and the die-hard clergy within France, and, although he saw political violence as a double-edged sword, eventually he unleashed it on the Girondin faction. If he showed humanity and mercy in some situations it has to be weighed against the ruthless violence he was prepared to show at other times.
This book is as daring and arresting as Danton himself. It is extremely well written, and brings historical personalities to life in an immediate and exciting way. It would be difficult to write a balanced view of the life and motives of Danton, he divided people in his own time and left little written explanation of his thoughts and feelings, despite living at a time when most people of his class wrote private letters by the score. The author is perhaps entitled therefore to look at the brief, contradictory existence of Georges-Jacques Danton - his compassion, his courage, his crimes - and see the best in him.
This is the Danton of David Lawday's excellent biography: the fearless voice of compassion at a time of terror, the flamboyant orator who sometimes let his rhetoric get out of hand, the man who could be bribed, but never bought - the bull in the china shop. It is an impressionistic and admiring portrait, if ultimately it is too forgiving.
The characterisation in this book is, from a narrative perspective really excellent. Lawday describes the clash of personalities between the ascetic purist Robespierre and the populist sybarite Danton which ultimately led to their fatal falling out with a refined dramatic instinct. Likewise the psychology of the hatred felt for Danton by Mme Roland, a key figure in the federalist Girondin movement is well explored, even if the author's analysis - that this coarse manly ogre both repelled and fascinated her - is laced with insinuation which could be viewed patronising or even chauvinistic. There is a larger problem with the characterisation, which is that the historical and political disputes sometimes take a back seat to the psychological drama. Explaining these figures' motives from the scraps left to history, is a matter of intuition and guesswork, which the author does very well, but which does involve some dramatic license.
The book praises Danton's actions as the de facto wartime leader of the revolution in 1793. The levee-en-masse is singled out as one of his greatest achievements, conscription on an unprecedented scale helped to protect the fledgling republic from the Austrian and Prussian armies. His shrewd diplomacy and politics that year are equally lauded. Even in his moment of triumph though, Danton was establishing what would become the twin engines of violence during the revolutionary terror, the committee of public safety and the revolutionary tribunal, which aimed to try, condemn and execute its victims within twenty-four hours. Lawday forgives this too easily. Danton created these bodies to control the bloody passions of the Parisian mob, and to suppress a perceived fifth column of royalists and the die-hard clergy within France, and, although he saw political violence as a double-edged sword, eventually he unleashed it on the Girondin faction. If he showed humanity and mercy in some situations it has to be weighed against the ruthless violence he was prepared to show at other times.
This book is as daring and arresting as Danton himself. It is extremely well written, and brings historical personalities to life in an immediate and exciting way. It would be difficult to write a balanced view of the life and motives of Danton, he divided people in his own time and left little written explanation of his thoughts and feelings, despite living at a time when most people of his class wrote private letters by the score. The author is perhaps entitled therefore to look at the brief, contradictory existence of Georges-Jacques Danton - his compassion, his courage, his crimes - and see the best in him.
November 10, 2013
One of the most emotional biographies I have ever read. Lawday's mixture of fact, quotations, and prose creates a truly moving book about one of the most vital figures of the French Revolution. It is refreshing to find a writer who can talk about both Robespierre and Danton without demonizing the other. Overall, a fantastic read. I would recommend this to anyone who loves history in general. Guest appearance by Thomas Paine makes it all the better.
March 26, 2018
While interesting, it would have been nice to have annotations and citations in the book so it could be easier to differentiate between conjecture of the author and actual information.
September 11, 2016
This book was very enjoyable, but I'm not so sure about helpful. Well, sure, it was helpful, but there was no information in this book that I couldn't have gotten anywhere else. And I mean, if I could get all of this information and more in another book, then why should I read this one? I will admit that this book was very fun to read, which is great! It's good to have something fun to read when you're reading for a historical project and a lot of times the books that you have to read for the sake of learning are not necessarily entertaining. But this book was fun. No doubt of it.
We also got information on the friendship between Camille [Desmoulins] and Danton which is not something that we see often--we see a lot of Robespierre's friendship with Camille, but Danton and Camille's friendship usually gets... snubbed(?). I'd even argue that Camille was better friends with Danton than he was with Robespierre (at least at the end of it all). So it was good to see some of that. I liked the wonderful way in which Mr. Lawday illustrated Camille. We often see Camille as just the right hand man who kind of sat in the background, but Mr. Lawday brought him out of that backlight and showed how immensely courageous Camille was and could be as well as how absolutely essential Camille was to the revolution and bringing light to liberty.
Overall, I liked this book. I didn't love it, but it was good!
We also got information on the friendship between Camille [Desmoulins] and Danton which is not something that we see often--we see a lot of Robespierre's friendship with Camille, but Danton and Camille's friendship usually gets... snubbed(?). I'd even argue that Camille was better friends with Danton than he was with Robespierre (at least at the end of it all). So it was good to see some of that. I liked the wonderful way in which Mr. Lawday illustrated Camille. We often see Camille as just the right hand man who kind of sat in the background, but Mr. Lawday brought him out of that backlight and showed how immensely courageous Camille was and could be as well as how absolutely essential Camille was to the revolution and bringing light to liberty.
Overall, I liked this book. I didn't love it, but it was good!
March 2, 2020
I really wanted to enjoy this book, but the author's rose colored blinders made it impossible. At worst Danton is I blood thirsty tyrant corrupted by power, at best he is a stupidly reckless imbecile. Either way he is to blame for the every negative aspect of the women's march on Versailles, the ravaging of the Tuileries & the September Massacres, but the author can't help but downplay his role throughout the Revolution.
It began with the author's assignment of blame to Benjamin Franklin for Frances financial decline. It's reasonable to say that the American Revolution cost the French a lot of $$$ financially, but the blame can hardly be placed upon Franklin's (or America's) shoulders when France had their own selfish reasons for helping America (e.g. sticking it to England). They provided aid on their terms & within their timetable. Besides, the state of France's money matters, and the levels of separation between the monarchy, the church, the nobility & literally everybody else had been incredibly unfair for over 1000 years! These things, in addition to poor harvests, brought about the French Revolution, not America. In fact, I think it's fair to say that if America can be blamed for anything it's that it inspired a more equal system to be brought about.
Next, the author is ridiculously one-sided when it comes to his views on Lafayette. He continually blames him for major issues while completely ignoring the fact that he (Lafayette) was reacting to misfortunes rather than lighting the fuse. For example, he claims Lafayette defected to the enemy when he fled Paris. The truth is he saw where the Revolution was going & decided to escape before he list his life. Anyone with half a brain could see it was getting out of control & anyone with the means to flee did just that. That's not defection, it's self preservation. Furthermore, his actions after the war, til the end of his life, prove his devotion to his country. Since this book was released in 2009 the author should've known better & not painted him out to be a villainous traitor.
His telling of the storming of the Tuileries & Danton's lack of intervention during the September Massacres are also ridiculously underrepresented. The murder & savagery of those killed on August 10th isn't even mentioned & the whole ordeal gets less than a footnote of attention. In other words, the author glossed over the details to make Danton appear in a better light than he deserves. During the September Massacres he literally says, "to hell with the prisoners, let them save themselves," but the author claims he was "helpless" & "sickened." GIVE ME A BREAK!!! Perhaps Danton shouldn't have incited the violence & brought about the murderous rampage???
I'm only halfway through the book & can't decide whether to finish it or not due to the lack of understanding & sympathy the author has given to other key members of time & his blindness towards Danton's own incredibly blatant faults. Danton was a commanding presence, a force to be reckoned with. To downplay his role in the Revolution is not only a great disservice to the man himself, but it's outright falsifying history. Danton had numerous opportunities to intervene, but he chose not to. He then continued to rouse the crowds & encourage more blood lust, that's hardly the behavior of a helpless, sickened individual.
**************************
It began with the author's assignment of blame to Benjamin Franklin for Frances financial decline. It's reasonable to say that the American Revolution cost the French a lot of $$$ financially, but the blame can hardly be placed upon Franklin's (or America's) shoulders when France had their own selfish reasons for helping America (e.g. sticking it to England). They provided aid on their terms & within their timetable. Besides, the state of France's money matters, and the levels of separation between the monarchy, the church, the nobility & literally everybody else had been incredibly unfair for over 1000 years! These things, in addition to poor harvests, brought about the French Revolution, not America. In fact, I think it's fair to say that if America can be blamed for anything it's that it inspired a more equal system to be brought about.
Next, the author is ridiculously one-sided when it comes to his views on Lafayette. He continually blames him for major issues while completely ignoring the fact that he (Lafayette) was reacting to misfortunes rather than lighting the fuse. For example, he claims Lafayette defected to the enemy when he fled Paris. The truth is he saw where the Revolution was going & decided to escape before he list his life. Anyone with half a brain could see it was getting out of control & anyone with the means to flee did just that. That's not defection, it's self preservation. Furthermore, his actions after the war, til the end of his life, prove his devotion to his country. Since this book was released in 2009 the author should've known better & not painted him out to be a villainous traitor.
His telling of the storming of the Tuileries & Danton's lack of intervention during the September Massacres are also ridiculously underrepresented. The murder & savagery of those killed on August 10th isn't even mentioned & the whole ordeal gets less than a footnote of attention. In other words, the author glossed over the details to make Danton appear in a better light than he deserves. During the September Massacres he literally says, "to hell with the prisoners, let them save themselves," but the author claims he was "helpless" & "sickened." GIVE ME A BREAK!!! Perhaps Danton shouldn't have incited the violence & brought about the murderous rampage???
I'm only halfway through the book & can't decide whether to finish it or not due to the lack of understanding & sympathy the author has given to other key members of time & his blindness towards Danton's own incredibly blatant faults. Danton was a commanding presence, a force to be reckoned with. To downplay his role in the Revolution is not only a great disservice to the man himself, but it's outright falsifying history. Danton had numerous opportunities to intervene, but he chose not to. He then continued to rouse the crowds & encourage more blood lust, that's hardly the behavior of a helpless, sickened individual.
**************************
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 29, 2022
There's only so many ways I can say: this is written by a journalist/columnist, not by a trained historian. So it's relatively well-written, flows quite quickly and gives a good grasp of the character involved, but it also includes very tendentious in its links between the Reign of Terror and 21st century terrorism, never really seems to quite bother to criticise Danton and can never seem to mention Robespierre without a word of slander.
I would argue its biggest omission is the relative paucity of information about the Insurrection of August 10, 1972, which is the most singular 'revolutionary' event in the entire French Revolution, and which transformed Danton from raconteur to functional Prime Minister overnight. We get little idea of how Danton liaised with the other companies of soldiers to create the Insurrectionary Commune - surely somebody has written about this after the fact?
In terms of positives, Lawday is actually quite good at explaining the dynamics between the executive and legislative branches of French Revolutionary government, even if he doesn't really capture what Danton did to make himself the most powerful man in France. He also captures Danton's warfront efforts as a representative on mission in Belgium and gives very useful insight to demonstrate how Danton's support for Dumouriez really undercut his position within the revolutionary government.
As an introduction to the French Revolution and one of its main protagonists it's not so bad, but its rather hagiographic tone and Lawday's wilful slander of Robespierre - like him or loathe him it's possible to go a sentence without referring to him as 'unmanly' or 'treacherous' - render it rather difficult to recommend to anybody seriously interested in good scholarship.
I would argue its biggest omission is the relative paucity of information about the Insurrection of August 10, 1972, which is the most singular 'revolutionary' event in the entire French Revolution, and which transformed Danton from raconteur to functional Prime Minister overnight. We get little idea of how Danton liaised with the other companies of soldiers to create the Insurrectionary Commune - surely somebody has written about this after the fact?
In terms of positives, Lawday is actually quite good at explaining the dynamics between the executive and legislative branches of French Revolutionary government, even if he doesn't really capture what Danton did to make himself the most powerful man in France. He also captures Danton's warfront efforts as a representative on mission in Belgium and gives very useful insight to demonstrate how Danton's support for Dumouriez really undercut his position within the revolutionary government.
As an introduction to the French Revolution and one of its main protagonists it's not so bad, but its rather hagiographic tone and Lawday's wilful slander of Robespierre - like him or loathe him it's possible to go a sentence without referring to him as 'unmanly' or 'treacherous' - render it rather difficult to recommend to anybody seriously interested in good scholarship.
October 10, 2021
The French revolution was perhaps the most singular event in all of history, yet it produced not one single hero -- mostly because all the would-be heroes were killed off by other would-be heroes. Georges Jacques Danton was as close to a hero as the revolution could produce. He stood up for principal, at least on occasion. Before the Terror, he rose twice to the defense of Robespierre for what Danton considered hard-but-necessary decisions. During the Terror, Robespierre declined to return the favor. And so Danton's story ended on the guillotine, as did Robespierre's a few months later.
Before the story ended, Danton had moments of near glory. His great gift was not his mind, but his voice. He had the strongest and loudest voice of all the revolutionaries. Whenever something needed to be said for broad consumption, Danton was essentially the only one to carry the message. If you're thinking that a big voice is only a minor asset, you're thinking that there would always be a mic and amplifier and loudspeaker to give even the squeakiest voice a chance to be heard. In the days before amplification, squeaky voices were simply lost. Even to address the Assemblée nationale with its 1177 members required an enormous voice. Danton could do it and almost none of the others could.
The shadowy figure behind the early revolution was the comte de Mirabeau. Mirabeau's gift was his mind. He knew where the revolution needed to be directed in order to succeed and persist. His instrument was Danton. He told Danton what to say and Danton said it loud and clear. When Mirabeau died of natural causes in 1791, Danton was lost.
Before the story ended, Danton had moments of near glory. His great gift was not his mind, but his voice. He had the strongest and loudest voice of all the revolutionaries. Whenever something needed to be said for broad consumption, Danton was essentially the only one to carry the message. If you're thinking that a big voice is only a minor asset, you're thinking that there would always be a mic and amplifier and loudspeaker to give even the squeakiest voice a chance to be heard. In the days before amplification, squeaky voices were simply lost. Even to address the Assemblée nationale with its 1177 members required an enormous voice. Danton could do it and almost none of the others could.
The shadowy figure behind the early revolution was the comte de Mirabeau. Mirabeau's gift was his mind. He knew where the revolution needed to be directed in order to succeed and persist. His instrument was Danton. He told Danton what to say and Danton said it loud and clear. When Mirabeau died of natural causes in 1791, Danton was lost.
April 28, 2023
The French Revolution produced many fascinatingly complex characters: the virtuous Robespierre, the noble Lafayette, the tragic King Louis XVI (or Louis Capet), and the ogre-like orator Danton. Lost in the shuffle of other revolutionary luminaries, Danton receives his just due from David Lawday's biography, teasing out the political subtleties, steadfastness, and personal side of the giant-sized man from Arcis.
Danton's career flourishes in the revolutionary upheavals, as the one-time lawyer to the Versailles Court ascends to Minister of Justice and eventual member of the National Convention and its powerful Committee of Public Safety. While steadfast in his principles about the rule of the people, Danton is oddly indifferent to his own political and mortal existence, ceding ground to a rising Robespierre and Saint-Just on the Committee of Public Safety as the Revolutionary Tribunal Danton brings into effect is turned against its father.
Lawday's book is one of the few, and likely the best, treatment of Danton and the early days of the French Revolution.
Danton's career flourishes in the revolutionary upheavals, as the one-time lawyer to the Versailles Court ascends to Minister of Justice and eventual member of the National Convention and its powerful Committee of Public Safety. While steadfast in his principles about the rule of the people, Danton is oddly indifferent to his own political and mortal existence, ceding ground to a rising Robespierre and Saint-Just on the Committee of Public Safety as the Revolutionary Tribunal Danton brings into effect is turned against its father.
Lawday's book is one of the few, and likely the best, treatment of Danton and the early days of the French Revolution.
March 13, 2025
It's very easily readable, good prose and flow. I'm also fairly certain that the facts and events are presented truthfully.
However, this is not a biography of Danton, it is a Phillipic against Robespierre. The author clearly thinks highly of Danton - so do I - but he is far too focused on obviously hating Robespierre to provide a true insight into Danton.
The author starts the book by explaining that Danton did not like to write and thus left us very little in terms of letters or diaries. And yet. The book is filled to the brim with claims of how Danton must have felt or thought, mostly on how evil Robespierre was. This also translates into far too much good thought shown for clearly problematic men so long as they opposed Robespierre; Fabre d'Eglantine is presented as mildly misguided but good hearted man when in truth he was a thief and self-promoter.
Overall, fun to read but keep in mind Robespierre presented here is not the true Robespierre.
However, this is not a biography of Danton, it is a Phillipic against Robespierre. The author clearly thinks highly of Danton - so do I - but he is far too focused on obviously hating Robespierre to provide a true insight into Danton.
The author starts the book by explaining that Danton did not like to write and thus left us very little in terms of letters or diaries. And yet. The book is filled to the brim with claims of how Danton must have felt or thought, mostly on how evil Robespierre was. This also translates into far too much good thought shown for clearly problematic men so long as they opposed Robespierre; Fabre d'Eglantine is presented as mildly misguided but good hearted man when in truth he was a thief and self-promoter.
Overall, fun to read but keep in mind Robespierre presented here is not the true Robespierre.
December 29, 2024
I enjoyed the book. The writing was above average but had a few annoying quirks (always referring to the National Assembly as the Riding School). I obviously learned more about Danton and felt like Lawday did a good job of boiling down other characters' motivations. For instance, Robespierre sunk in more reading this after reading the Robespierre biography hearing his tales from another perspective that essentially told the same story.
June 7, 2020
Two and a half stars maybe?
Unfortunately, I read this on the heels of Hilary Mantel’s A Place I’d Greater Safety, which fleshes out the backstories and in-betweens for Danton, Desmoulins and Robespierre so thoroughly and convincingly that this stylized account of Danton just couldn’t hold a candle to Mantel’s absolute torch.
Still, not a bad read and thankfully quite concise.
Unfortunately, I read this on the heels of Hilary Mantel’s A Place I’d Greater Safety, which fleshes out the backstories and in-betweens for Danton, Desmoulins and Robespierre so thoroughly and convincingly that this stylized account of Danton just couldn’t hold a candle to Mantel’s absolute torch.
Still, not a bad read and thankfully quite concise.
April 16, 2023
Lawday writes an interesting biography of 'The Ogre of Acris' filled with many details about his life and character. However, Lawday's bias towards Danton appears throughout, with only the worst interpretations of his enemies being included. And references for many of the anecdotes would have been appreciated
September 8, 2021
An enjoyable read that is the story of one of the few major characters of the French Revolution that had some redeeming qualities.
September 1, 2022
Loved it, such a fascinating figure who importance to the french revolution can't be overstated. Brilliantly written by David Lawday
September 9, 2023
Very clearly written. I do wish I had read this before Scurr's biography of Robespierre Fatal Purity as it would've been a better progression for understanding the history.
August 2, 2024
History written that reads like a novel. Fascinating person's life with a climatic ending. History can be entertaining and informative at the same time. This is a good example.
January 25, 2011
Lawday admits at the start that this is a slightly romanticised history, because Danton committed almost nothing to paper. There are no footnotes, although there are references at the back giving some indication of where ideas and quotes came from. And it is a bit romantic: Lawday sometimes lets himself go on flights of descriptive fancy about the streets of Paris and the countryside around Arcis, Danton's birthplace; and he gets a bit smoochy over Danton and his wife Gabrielle's relationship.
The other romantic aspect, and the thing that annoyed me the most, was that Lawday's vision of Danton as a hero apparently demanded that there be a genuine fiction-like villain for him to play against. Robespierre, the man probably responsible for Danton's death, is the obvious candidate here, and Lawday goes out of his way to malign and belittle him as unmanly and insipid, in contrast to the testosterone-fuelled Danton. But what really, really got my back up was that Lawday also featured Manon Roland, wife of Danton's fellow elected official Jean-Marie Roland. It seems clear that Mme Roland and Danton did not get along. Lawday, though, plays this up in sexualised and demeaning ways that were occasionally outright offensive. Having recently read Liberty, about the contribution of women to the Revolution - including Roland - this got my goat even more than it might have.
Anyway, aside from that demonisation, I did really enjoy Danton. Lawday gives a good running explanation of the Revolution such that I didn't get lost trying to figure out what else was going on at the time, and he does well at portraying Danton as intimately involved in most of the important events. Some of this may be exaggeration, but not all of it. It's largely well written, although I'm not sure that I agree with The Economist that it's "beautifully told". It's eminently readable, anyway, and captures the energy and urgency of the Revolution. I think this would be exceptionally good way in to the Revolution for someone with little knowledge of the events, but with a curiosity about people who shape events.
The other romantic aspect, and the thing that annoyed me the most, was that Lawday's vision of Danton as a hero apparently demanded that there be a genuine fiction-like villain for him to play against. Robespierre, the man probably responsible for Danton's death, is the obvious candidate here, and Lawday goes out of his way to malign and belittle him as unmanly and insipid, in contrast to the testosterone-fuelled Danton. But what really, really got my back up was that Lawday also featured Manon Roland, wife of Danton's fellow elected official Jean-Marie Roland. It seems clear that Mme Roland and Danton did not get along. Lawday, though, plays this up in sexualised and demeaning ways that were occasionally outright offensive. Having recently read Liberty, about the contribution of women to the Revolution - including Roland - this got my goat even more than it might have.
Anyway, aside from that demonisation, I did really enjoy Danton. Lawday gives a good running explanation of the Revolution such that I didn't get lost trying to figure out what else was going on at the time, and he does well at portraying Danton as intimately involved in most of the important events. Some of this may be exaggeration, but not all of it. It's largely well written, although I'm not sure that I agree with The Economist that it's "beautifully told". It's eminently readable, anyway, and captures the energy and urgency of the Revolution. I think this would be exceptionally good way in to the Revolution for someone with little knowledge of the events, but with a curiosity about people who shape events.
May 26, 2023
Saturn devours his own.
November 6, 2016
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet is a rip-roaring adventure novel written so beautifully that a painful conflict ensues; the need to read faster and faster to discover what will happen next and the desire to go slowly and linger over the words.
The book starts with a dramatic and dangerous birth, moves quickly to a contentious arrest and continues in the same head-long rush. Set on the tiny Dutch trading colony island of Dejima, outside of Nagasaki, Japan at the beginning of the nineteenth century, the book tells the story of Jacob de Zoet, a young man come to gain his fortune so he can marry back home. He's a man of quiet principle, but quickly finds that it's not always easy to determine the right action to take and he makes as many enemies as friends in his first months on Dejima. I don't want to give anything away, except to say that as soon as I thought I knew what was going on and settled happily down to enjoy it, the plot would twist away in another direction. The language is exquisite, with perfect phrases like lip-chewed debtors rich in excuses or anger and self-pity are lodged in his throat like fishbones. Finally, the story is set in such a beautifully rich time and place, Mitchell clearly has researched extensively, but the knowledge feels natural. I was disappointed to turn the final page and find that the book has ended.
The book starts with a dramatic and dangerous birth, moves quickly to a contentious arrest and continues in the same head-long rush. Set on the tiny Dutch trading colony island of Dejima, outside of Nagasaki, Japan at the beginning of the nineteenth century, the book tells the story of Jacob de Zoet, a young man come to gain his fortune so he can marry back home. He's a man of quiet principle, but quickly finds that it's not always easy to determine the right action to take and he makes as many enemies as friends in his first months on Dejima. I don't want to give anything away, except to say that as soon as I thought I knew what was going on and settled happily down to enjoy it, the plot would twist away in another direction. The language is exquisite, with perfect phrases like lip-chewed debtors rich in excuses or anger and self-pity are lodged in his throat like fishbones. Finally, the story is set in such a beautifully rich time and place, Mitchell clearly has researched extensively, but the knowledge feels natural. I was disappointed to turn the final page and find that the book has ended.
January 7, 2025
If I was going to leave a review for readability I would have given this book four stars. It is a fascinating read and a great introduction to the character of Danton. However, the author places far too much importance on what the characters “must have been feeling” in critical moments. He characterizes Madame Roland as snobbish and disgusted by Danton and his appearance and then spends the rest of the book placing the blame for rivalry between the factions upon this basis. He writes Robespierre off as a calculating and emotionless robot and allows Danton no room for any other thoughts on the subject. On top of this he offers no formal bibliography for his conclusions on the subjects he writes of. The book should be treated as one would treat Shakespeare’s Henry V in analyzing his campaigns in France. It is intriguing and offers potentially plausible explanations for the events that occur. But the characters often come off as caricatures of themselves with all their most famous features exaggerated into oblivion. If you are looking for a book to turn into a movie about Danton look no further but if you are looking for a serious work keep looking.
July 18, 2010
This is a well written volume outlining the brief life of one of the leaders of the French Revolution, George-Jacques Danton, a person large of size and large in his love of life. His misshapen face and outsized voice are tools in Lawday's analysis of the man. A couple caveats: I am not normally well disposed to adducing thoughts to historical figures, but it seems to work fairly well in this book; there is some hyperbole here and there (could Danton's voice really travel as far as alleged?).
Nonetheless, the book is a good read, introduces us to key figures in the French Revolution, and outlines why the Revolution went off the tracks to consume so many of its own--including Danton himself.
Thus, despite some questions that I might have, this is a useful volume for those who are curious about the figure of Danton and those around him.
Nonetheless, the book is a good read, introduces us to key figures in the French Revolution, and outlines why the Revolution went off the tracks to consume so many of its own--including Danton himself.
Thus, despite some questions that I might have, this is a useful volume for those who are curious about the figure of Danton and those around him.
August 31, 2014
The French Revolution is quite an interesting and insane period of time. Danton was in the center of the Revolution from the very start, from the inside Courts of the Royals to the end with his execution. Egging on the Revolutionists and seemingly indifferent to the amount of bloodshed, even his own, he created the mechanism for terror that others took over and put into overdrive. How France survived this period is beyond me-they were executing leaders of the Royals, the leaders of the initial revolution and then leaders of the second and third rounds. They turned on themselves on a daily basis and Danton, one of the main leaders, was indifferent until the last few months when he tried to stop the bloodshed. This change marked him for death and that is what occurred.
July 9, 2011
Insightful account of the makings of the French Revolution. I'm not sure how the author found the personal accounts and emotions that make up this book. But It definitely gave me a deeper understanding of the French Revolution and the people involved.
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July 29, 2011Reasonable biography.
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