Twilight of the Old Order, 1774-1778

Age of the French Revolution #1

by Claude Manceron, Patricia Wolf

02.03.18

Genres: History, European History, France, Nonfiction, French Revolution

650 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1972

About the author

Né en 1923, Claude Manceron a contracté la poliomyélite à l'âge de 11 ans, ce qui l'a contraint à rester allonger pendant des années. Adulte, il devient éducateur spécialisé dans un centre pour paralysés. A la fin des années 1950, il publie son premier livre, un roman consacré aux Cent jours. Entré au Comité national des écrivains, il fréquente Aragon et signe le manifeste des 121 contre la guerre d'Algérie. C'est en 1968, installé dans l'Hérault, qu'il entreprend son grand projet sur les hommes qui ont fait la Révolution. Pendant quatre ans, il s'immerge dans les archives. Le premier volume des Hommes de la liberté paraît en 1972, le cinquième en 1987. Il n'ira pas au bout de son projet ; il s'éteint à Rambouillet en 1999. Il a été chargé de mission auprès de François Mitterrand de 1981 à 1995.

Reviews

[Lobstergirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a nice way to learn history: many short-ish (about 2-8 pages each) chapterettes which are vignettes on the lives of famous and not-famous figures living in the years leading up to the French Revolution. We are presented not only with Louis XV, Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, and her brother the Habsburg emperor Joseph, but cabinet ministers, writers and philosophers (Diderot, Rousseau, Voltaire, Tom Paine, Ben Franklin, Goethe), military men (George Washington, the Marquis de La Fayette), perverts (Sade), even lowly criminals broken on the wheel. Altogether it is a wonderful Ancien Régime-flavored soup.

Did you know, for example, that everyone across Europe knew that Louis XVI and his wife had separate bedrooms, and Marie's brother Joseph was sent to Versailles to find out why the two undersexed teens were not getting it on? Joseph reported in a letter to his brother Leopold "that Louis XVI has good hard erections; he injects his organ, remains there motionless for two minutes or so, then withdraws, still stiff, without discharging, and drops off to sleep...If only I had been there once, I would have fixed things; he needs to be beaten like an ass to make him discharge his spunk."

Meanwhile back in America, Ben Franklin "was always fond [of the Quakers] even if his sense of humor kept him from attending their meetings, which took place in any ordinary bare room, where the Holy Spirit never failed to invade someone and shake him like a sapling."

While it's nice to chuckle, over in Surinam the Dutch were proving to be some of the harshest slaveowners of any, as well as the most "imaginative." "Judge van Stikker ordered a thirteen-year-old Negro girl disemboweled for having got herself pregnant without his permission. The dying mother and the fetus were exposed in the pillory of the slave market."

How about Voltaire? Is he, or isn't he, an atheist? "To understand Voltaire, one must accept the fact that he is not an atheist. The century's only atheist of comparable rank is Diderot." In fact shortly before his death, while ill, Voltaire had become a Capuchin convert, "which kept the salons howling with laughter." It wasn't that he was afraid of death, or hell, but that in order for a proper burial he needed to confess to a priest, which he does, but he won't retract a word of what he has written in the past. His final credo reads: "I die worshiping God, loving my friends, not hating my enemies, and detesting superstition." However, after setting this to paper Voltaire temporarily recovered and went to see his new play, Irène, at the theater, as one must.

The author, Claude Manceron, was "the son of a French naval officer and a Greek princess" whose "formal schooling ended after he was crippled by polio at age eleven."

[Sherwood Smith]

Manceron's delightful, almost breathless style fits perfectly for a book rising to the horrific climax of the revolution. He delves deeply into background of his main players, adding exploratory essays on life and literature that begin to assemble his grand picture.

[Brent Jatko · Rating 4 out of 5]

My brother and his partner gave e this series because they didn't like it.

Decent book, although it assumes a knowledge of French history that is beyond many average Americans'.

Not an "easy read" by any means; a glossary and endnote would have helped.

Like Proust but not as dense.

In the age of Google and Wikipedia, it might make for a better read.

[Laurie Wheeler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Packed with vignettes presented with rapid fire details with a unique tone from other books I've read.
It's a tough slough plowing through the tone, despite many of the characters being my favorite from history.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Manceron is singular in relating history-through anecdotes. comments on history as if there--i.e. "Lafayette has America on the brain." read all four books.