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The Fall of Robespierre: 24 Hours in Revolutionary Paris
The day of 9 Thermidor (27 July 1794) is universally acknowledged as a major turning-point in the history of the French Revolution. At 12.00 midnight, Maximilien Robespierre, the most prominent member of the Committee of Public Safety which had for more than a year directed the Reign of Terror, was planning to destroy one of the most dangerous plots that the Revolution had faced.By 12.00 midnight at the close of the day, following a day of uncertainty, surprises, upsets and reverses, his world had been turned upside down. He was an outlaw, on the run, and himself wanted for conspiracy against the Republic. He felt that his whole life and his Revolutionary career were drawing to an end. As indeed they were. He shot himself shortly afterwards. Half-dead, the guillotine finished him off in grisly fashion the next day.The Fall of Robespierre provides an hour-by-hour analysis of these 24 hours.
591 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 12, 2021
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Colin Jones
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews
October 12, 2023
Shedding the Snake’s Skin.
Some people have tried to defend Maximilien Robespierre, where they have stated he embodied the ideas of the French Revolution, that he was an idealist who believed in democracy, individual freedom and social and economic freedom. This is a mistruth, these people are clutching at straws. Robespierre was one of the most detestable men in history and inspiration for Vladimir Lenin and Mao Zedong. He was a bloodthirsty ideologue who unleashed the Reign of Terror overseeing mass murder and paranoia. It was because of this that on 27/07/1794 (the so called 9 Thermidor) men of his ilk, members of the Committee of Public Safety (CPS) finally shed themselves of him. The next day they enacted a fate he had so ungraciously bestowed on others: the Guillotine. This is the story of those 24 hours which saw the downfall of an evil tyrant and his cronies.
Robespierre was only 36 years old when he met his end. A lawyer by trade from the north of France, who was a radical from the early days of the revolution. He like most despots had strange habits, he lived off a diet of coffee and oranges. His death was one of the defining moments of the revolution which in fact happened gradually over years. The first was the famous storming of the Bastille on 14/07/1789, the second was the downfall of King Louis XVI on 10/08/1792 and the third was the death of Robespierre. He was a major player in the revolution, so this book brings to life a key component of the event that shook Europe and would catsuit into 20 years of world war. Robespierre had enacted the terror and on 8 Thermidor had made speeches to the Convention and the Jacobin Club that this terror was about to be take up a notch. Robespierre was paranoid, saw corruption and counter revolutionaries everywhere and thought the British prime minister William Pitt the Younger was organising a plot against him. His purge was coming and the Convention and CPS knew it. Earlier in the year he had seen to the guillotining of other revolutionaries Georges Danton and Camille Desmoulins. Would they be next? Others like Jean-Lambert Tallien feared for his partner Térésa who was imprisoned by the regime for being an aristocrat.
They needed to act fast and before Robespierre. They would smash his support in the Commune, Paris’ city government and the Jacobin Club whilst rounding up Robespierre alongside his brother and other supporters such as Louis de Saint-Just and Georges Couthon. They whipped up rhetoric in the Convention, which launched attacks on Robespierre, denouncing him and not allowing him to speak. Jones notes in detail the debates which followed and eventually led to the vote of Robespierre’s arrest. Jones testifies that the ordinary people of Paris supported Robespierre’s downfall as they were obviously against The Terror, but generally supports some of the political progress of the revolution. This is all told hour by hour, and sometimes minute by minute in Jones’ book. Giving insight into Paris at the time, who was living where, the masses of labourers heading into the city early in the morning, or the huge number of young boys competing to sell the latest issues of their newspapers. He able to do this because the sources are so vast, no other day of the eighteenth century has been catalogued this way.
With the stabbing and eventual guillotining of Robespierre The Terror did end and arm more conservative government came in. This set the ball in motion for the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte, who brushed this all aside in 1799 when he took power. Like all revolutionaries, they have to kill their way to freedom. Only by bathing in blood do they liberate the people, but as always they then turn upon themselves. Robespierre could not continue orchestrating the terror and it was only a matter of time before he met this fate. Under him The Terror would have gotten worse and worse. Overall this book was okay, I have mixed feelings. In some ways it is too tedious, not exciting enough and requires a high amount of knowledge before reading. The events, people, locations and institutions can be hard to understand or follow. On the flip side this does exactly what it tells you. Tells the tale of how Robespierre was ousted and then killed, documenting one of the key moments of the French Revolution. I will keep this on the shelf, as maybe I will re read it in the future to try and get more out of it.
Some people have tried to defend Maximilien Robespierre, where they have stated he embodied the ideas of the French Revolution, that he was an idealist who believed in democracy, individual freedom and social and economic freedom. This is a mistruth, these people are clutching at straws. Robespierre was one of the most detestable men in history and inspiration for Vladimir Lenin and Mao Zedong. He was a bloodthirsty ideologue who unleashed the Reign of Terror overseeing mass murder and paranoia. It was because of this that on 27/07/1794 (the so called 9 Thermidor) men of his ilk, members of the Committee of Public Safety (CPS) finally shed themselves of him. The next day they enacted a fate he had so ungraciously bestowed on others: the Guillotine. This is the story of those 24 hours which saw the downfall of an evil tyrant and his cronies.
Robespierre was only 36 years old when he met his end. A lawyer by trade from the north of France, who was a radical from the early days of the revolution. He like most despots had strange habits, he lived off a diet of coffee and oranges. His death was one of the defining moments of the revolution which in fact happened gradually over years. The first was the famous storming of the Bastille on 14/07/1789, the second was the downfall of King Louis XVI on 10/08/1792 and the third was the death of Robespierre. He was a major player in the revolution, so this book brings to life a key component of the event that shook Europe and would catsuit into 20 years of world war. Robespierre had enacted the terror and on 8 Thermidor had made speeches to the Convention and the Jacobin Club that this terror was about to be take up a notch. Robespierre was paranoid, saw corruption and counter revolutionaries everywhere and thought the British prime minister William Pitt the Younger was organising a plot against him. His purge was coming and the Convention and CPS knew it. Earlier in the year he had seen to the guillotining of other revolutionaries Georges Danton and Camille Desmoulins. Would they be next? Others like Jean-Lambert Tallien feared for his partner Térésa who was imprisoned by the regime for being an aristocrat.
They needed to act fast and before Robespierre. They would smash his support in the Commune, Paris’ city government and the Jacobin Club whilst rounding up Robespierre alongside his brother and other supporters such as Louis de Saint-Just and Georges Couthon. They whipped up rhetoric in the Convention, which launched attacks on Robespierre, denouncing him and not allowing him to speak. Jones notes in detail the debates which followed and eventually led to the vote of Robespierre’s arrest. Jones testifies that the ordinary people of Paris supported Robespierre’s downfall as they were obviously against The Terror, but generally supports some of the political progress of the revolution. This is all told hour by hour, and sometimes minute by minute in Jones’ book. Giving insight into Paris at the time, who was living where, the masses of labourers heading into the city early in the morning, or the huge number of young boys competing to sell the latest issues of their newspapers. He able to do this because the sources are so vast, no other day of the eighteenth century has been catalogued this way.
With the stabbing and eventual guillotining of Robespierre The Terror did end and arm more conservative government came in. This set the ball in motion for the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte, who brushed this all aside in 1799 when he took power. Like all revolutionaries, they have to kill their way to freedom. Only by bathing in blood do they liberate the people, but as always they then turn upon themselves. Robespierre could not continue orchestrating the terror and it was only a matter of time before he met this fate. Under him The Terror would have gotten worse and worse. Overall this book was okay, I have mixed feelings. In some ways it is too tedious, not exciting enough and requires a high amount of knowledge before reading. The events, people, locations and institutions can be hard to understand or follow. On the flip side this does exactly what it tells you. Tells the tale of how Robespierre was ousted and then killed, documenting one of the key moments of the French Revolution. I will keep this on the shelf, as maybe I will re read it in the future to try and get more out of it.
September 24, 2021
Sounded quite interesting and the first part that sets the day action (and how we got there) is quite captivating, but then when it comes to the actual fall of Robespierre in the Convention and the failed attempt by some of his Commune associates to counter that with a "coup", the book loses momentum quite a lot.
I think that is partly due to the fact that the author makes no bones about his pro-Robespierre views and portrays his associates (mostly the National Guard commander Hanriot and a few of his colleagues) as incompetent braggarts that left the Revolution down, while Robespierre himself is overwhelmed by the alliance between his Jacobin colleagues who have been leading the Revolutionary government alongside him (Collot, Billaud, Barrere) and with whom he quarreled mostly due to personal rather than political differences, and his opportunistic enemies that somehow survived the recent purges of the Convention (but were perceived as fairly lightweight non-entities whom Robespierre could dominate at will- like Talien, Freron, Fouche, Barras - to name some of the Jacobins that turned coat and became leaders of the Thermidorian reaction and destroyed the Jacobin government sans-Robespierre)
However, the fairly immediate future will show that while Robespierre may or may not have intended to purge some of his Jacobin colleagues (as they ultimately feared and consequently brought him down), his views that if the Jacobin government (Committee of Public Salvation) doesn't manage to stay united, it will be brought down by the "counterrevolution" will be proven within months after his fall, when the Convention turned right and destroyed the Jacobins and their government which now lacked their most popular leader.
Overall an uneven book but definitely worth reading especially to understand how the successful Jacobin Revolutionary government self-destroyed, because its leaders' personalities collided once the immediate perils (invasion, internal attacks) were defeated; and without Robespierre's immense popularity and acerbic debate skills, the other CPS' grandees soon became fodder for the opportunistic turncoats who destroyed them and the CPS
I think that is partly due to the fact that the author makes no bones about his pro-Robespierre views and portrays his associates (mostly the National Guard commander Hanriot and a few of his colleagues) as incompetent braggarts that left the Revolution down, while Robespierre himself is overwhelmed by the alliance between his Jacobin colleagues who have been leading the Revolutionary government alongside him (Collot, Billaud, Barrere) and with whom he quarreled mostly due to personal rather than political differences, and his opportunistic enemies that somehow survived the recent purges of the Convention (but were perceived as fairly lightweight non-entities whom Robespierre could dominate at will- like Talien, Freron, Fouche, Barras - to name some of the Jacobins that turned coat and became leaders of the Thermidorian reaction and destroyed the Jacobin government sans-Robespierre)
However, the fairly immediate future will show that while Robespierre may or may not have intended to purge some of his Jacobin colleagues (as they ultimately feared and consequently brought him down), his views that if the Jacobin government (Committee of Public Salvation) doesn't manage to stay united, it will be brought down by the "counterrevolution" will be proven within months after his fall, when the Convention turned right and destroyed the Jacobins and their government which now lacked their most popular leader.
Overall an uneven book but definitely worth reading especially to understand how the successful Jacobin Revolutionary government self-destroyed, because its leaders' personalities collided once the immediate perils (invasion, internal attacks) were defeated; and without Robespierre's immense popularity and acerbic debate skills, the other CPS' grandees soon became fodder for the opportunistic turncoats who destroyed them and the CPS
April 13, 2023
The French Revolution has always interested me. Between Louis XVI's reign and the rise of Napoleon, there were so many different governments, many of which have confounded historians. Consider, then, what Colin Jones has done with his The Fall of Robespierre Lib/E: 24 Hours in Revolutionary Paris by spending over 500 pages on the 24-hour period which saw the sudden fall of Robespierre. It was followed by tense hours as Robespierre's followers attempted to take over the government only to fail utterly and lose their heads to the guillotine.
Robespierre's power was as an orator, not as a political organizer. This lack, unfortunately for him, was shared by his followers. The threat of National Guard head Hanriot and Paris Mayor Fleuriot-Lescot was dispelled within hours, and some 50 followers were imprisoned and paid for their crimes with their heads.
The forces of the Convention which accused Robespierre, were not only better organized, but they had control of the printing presses and could make their case to the 48 sections of Paris more efficiently than the forces of the Commune, led by Hanriot and Fleuriot-Lescot.
Colin Jones takes us all around the city as we see the forces taking sides, and one of the sides crumbling before midnight on the day Robespierre and two fellow members of the Committee for Public Safety were accused.
When one reads the history books, one doesn't see the minutiae of power shifts the way that Colin Jones presents them in this excellent book. Well worth reading.
Robespierre's power was as an orator, not as a political organizer. This lack, unfortunately for him, was shared by his followers. The threat of National Guard head Hanriot and Paris Mayor Fleuriot-Lescot was dispelled within hours, and some 50 followers were imprisoned and paid for their crimes with their heads.
The forces of the Convention which accused Robespierre, were not only better organized, but they had control of the printing presses and could make their case to the 48 sections of Paris more efficiently than the forces of the Commune, led by Hanriot and Fleuriot-Lescot.
Colin Jones takes us all around the city as we see the forces taking sides, and one of the sides crumbling before midnight on the day Robespierre and two fellow members of the Committee for Public Safety were accused.
When one reads the history books, one doesn't see the minutiae of power shifts the way that Colin Jones presents them in this excellent book. Well worth reading.
May 25, 2023
Este libro es demasiado bueno. No os podéis imaginar cómo me lo he pasado leyéndolo, la maravillosa tensión que me ha regalado.
No sé qué pensar de Robespierre, os digo, ora parece un grandioso personaje trágico, ora un estúpido paranoico que propicia su propia caída.
Pero mi favorito es Saint-Just, del que Desmoullins decía que "caminaba llevando la cabeza sobre los hombros como si fuera el portador del santísimo sacramento", el genial acuñador de lo de "no se puede reinar inocentemente". Cuánto talento desperdiciado.
Es el único que, a sus 26 años, camina hacia la guillotina casi divertido y, mientras espera la condena a muerte en el tribunal revolucionario, ve una copia de la Constitución fijada en la pared y sonríe ufano al guarda: "Eso es obra mía, ¿sabes?"
No sé qué pensar de Robespierre, os digo, ora parece un grandioso personaje trágico, ora un estúpido paranoico que propicia su propia caída.
Pero mi favorito es Saint-Just, del que Desmoullins decía que "caminaba llevando la cabeza sobre los hombros como si fuera el portador del santísimo sacramento", el genial acuñador de lo de "no se puede reinar inocentemente". Cuánto talento desperdiciado.
Es el único que, a sus 26 años, camina hacia la guillotina casi divertido y, mientras espera la condena a muerte en el tribunal revolucionario, ve una copia de la Constitución fijada en la pared y sonríe ufano al guarda: "Eso es obra mía, ¿sabes?"
October 23, 2021
What a wonder that so many original documents illuminate this event. Jones is right in his concluding chapter that it signifies a moment when power changed from the hands of the population in revolt to the new 'bourgeoisie' emerging. He does a grand job not seeing these events through 20 or 21ct century eyes. A pity though, that although every revolution has it's own moments and it's own tempo. He did not draw any generalised conclusions. To be fair to him. It might not be possible. Trotsky kept talking about Brumaire as he was trying to draw a comparison between what happens when the new powers install themselves and take power in the name of the people they where claiming to represent in the first place.
I don't know enough about the French revolution to really comment but the terror, as in any revolution, is necessary. How else will you take power from a class who has everything.
We take a romantic view of history and view the main participants in that manner. Robbespiere was a man if his time. An exceptional man. But there was no lack of exceptional men and women. I was very impressed by this book and I recommend it.
I don't know enough about the French revolution to really comment but the terror, as in any revolution, is necessary. How else will you take power from a class who has everything.
We take a romantic view of history and view the main participants in that manner. Robbespiere was a man if his time. An exceptional man. But there was no lack of exceptional men and women. I was very impressed by this book and I recommend it.
August 18, 2023
I’ve always loved the French Revolution, so I had to pick this up when I was browsing a bookstore, because July 27, 1794 is one of the most famous days of the revolution. It started out really quickly when they set the stage for Robespierre’s opposition, and while I enjoyed the structure of it there were parts that were slow because of it. It was written hour by hour, and honestly there were just some parts that weren’t nearly as interesting as others. But Robespierre’s execution and the lead up to it is an incredible story.
September 11, 2021
A thrilling, blow-by-blow account of 9 Thermidor 1794 by a serious historian attempting to set right views of Robespierre and "The Terror" which have become accepted during the last two centuries since. Rarely is history presented in such a thrilling manner, as each ebb and flow of advantage between the National Convention and the Parisian Commune is painstakingly traced, so that - though the outcome is known - one cannot help but be transfixed by this account of how that outcome was achieved.
November 4, 2021
It took me a long time to get through this book. However I did enjoy it. It as fascinating how much information is available on what happened in the last 24 hours of Robespierre’s life. It is quite confusing at times but then the whole episode was just complete chaos and the outcome either way could not have been predicted. I read a Place of Greater Safety by Hilary Mantel at the same time so I think I’ve had my fill of the French Revolution fo a bit. No doubt I will return to it in the future.
Read
September 6, 2023Extraordinary. Read this once, fast, and then when straight back to the beginning to start again. It’s sometimes odd on a sentence level, but what a story. What a plot. What characters. It blows 90% of fiction out of the water.
October 18, 2022
“There was little or no logistical planning in advance of the day, by either Robespierre or his opponents. The day was not pre-planned. It just happened. After the event it seemed that it had to have happened—but that was a combined result of 20/20 hindsight and the quickly shaping ideological agenda across the Thermidorian period that I have delineated. What transpired on 9 Thermidor was not a move to overthrow a system of government but to defend it against alleged conspirators. It would only be the passage of time that rewrote the script in such a way that the day was held to have been an attack on one man and the system or government that he managed.”
April 5, 2024
Loved it, but I'm biased. I really enjoy the French Revolution. The way of looking at the event through a 24 hour window, makes it more thrilling.
February 18, 2024
Interesting micro history featuring an hour by hour account of the 24 hours that saw Robespierre fall from grace in the eyes of his revolutionary fellows. A series of minute details that accumulate to tell the story, like zooming out of a pointillist painting.
May 11, 2023
Come vi immaginate le ultime ventiquattro ore di Robespierre?
.
Io, da medievista ma appassionata del periodo storico della Rivoluzione Francese, memore del mio professore di storia del liceo - che per spiegarci la situazione di allora disegnò alla lavagna la distribuzione dei gruppi politici nella sala della Convenzione con i gessetti colorati - ho sempre pensato a come Robespierre avesse vissuto la sua caduta.
.
Colin Jones ha scritto un capolavoro, Alessandra Manzi l'ha tradotto per Neri Pozza
.
Ho amato alla follia questo libro. Non lo dico così tanto per dire.
Mi sono presa il mio tempo per leggerlo, perché è davvero monumentale. Affronta le ultime ore di potere di Robespierre, dalla mezzanotte del 9 termidoro dell'anno II (il 27 luglio del 1794) alla mezzanotte successiva.
.
Maximilien de Robespierre fu soprannominato l'Incorruttibile perchè è stato un idealista mai disposto a scendere a compromessi con la realtà.
Robespierre è salito al potere con un modus operandi tutto suo, ovvero quelll di stare dietro le quinte, mandando avanti tutti gli altri. A questo gli è valso il suo famigerato soprannome.
.
Ma chi era realmente Robespierre e da chi era circondato? Tra le pagine di questo libro spuntano i nomi di Saint-Just (sicuramente il più famoso di coloro che hanno gravitato attorno a Robespierre), ma anche di Couthon, di Billaud-Varenne, di Tallien (il primo ad accusare Robespierre, al contrario di quanto si pensi).
Non solo ritrovate gli eventi che hanno caratterizzato il colpo di stato che ha spodestato l'Incorruttibile, ma anche gli avvenimenti comuni, quelli della gente che viveva a Parigi in quel periodo, quelli di coloro che facevano parte della gendarmeria e coloro che erano vicini a Robespierre e persino gli davano un tetto dove poter dormire (i Duplay).
.
Per quanto possa essere stato disastroso, questo periodo è colmo di storia e questo libro è davvero sensazionale.
Rientra nella mia Top 2023, assolutamente e ne consiglio vivamente la lettura, sebbene sia un po' tecnico, per certi versi, ma merita davvero tantissimo.
.
Io, da medievista ma appassionata del periodo storico della Rivoluzione Francese, memore del mio professore di storia del liceo - che per spiegarci la situazione di allora disegnò alla lavagna la distribuzione dei gruppi politici nella sala della Convenzione con i gessetti colorati - ho sempre pensato a come Robespierre avesse vissuto la sua caduta.
.
Colin Jones ha scritto un capolavoro, Alessandra Manzi l'ha tradotto per Neri Pozza
.
Ho amato alla follia questo libro. Non lo dico così tanto per dire.
Mi sono presa il mio tempo per leggerlo, perché è davvero monumentale. Affronta le ultime ore di potere di Robespierre, dalla mezzanotte del 9 termidoro dell'anno II (il 27 luglio del 1794) alla mezzanotte successiva.
.
Maximilien de Robespierre fu soprannominato l'Incorruttibile perchè è stato un idealista mai disposto a scendere a compromessi con la realtà.
Robespierre è salito al potere con un modus operandi tutto suo, ovvero quelll di stare dietro le quinte, mandando avanti tutti gli altri. A questo gli è valso il suo famigerato soprannome.
.
Ma chi era realmente Robespierre e da chi era circondato? Tra le pagine di questo libro spuntano i nomi di Saint-Just (sicuramente il più famoso di coloro che hanno gravitato attorno a Robespierre), ma anche di Couthon, di Billaud-Varenne, di Tallien (il primo ad accusare Robespierre, al contrario di quanto si pensi).
Non solo ritrovate gli eventi che hanno caratterizzato il colpo di stato che ha spodestato l'Incorruttibile, ma anche gli avvenimenti comuni, quelli della gente che viveva a Parigi in quel periodo, quelli di coloro che facevano parte della gendarmeria e coloro che erano vicini a Robespierre e persino gli davano un tetto dove poter dormire (i Duplay).
.
Per quanto possa essere stato disastroso, questo periodo è colmo di storia e questo libro è davvero sensazionale.
Rientra nella mia Top 2023, assolutamente e ne consiglio vivamente la lettura, sebbene sia un po' tecnico, per certi versi, ma merita davvero tantissimo.
May 7, 2024
This was probably my favorite read of 2023. The Fall of Robespierre is just what it claims to be: an exhaustive account of 9 Thermidor Year II, detailing the activities and reactions of not only Robespierre and the other members of the National Convention, but the everyday Parisians whose actions determined the outcome of the day. Due to its narrow focus, Jones' book isn't suitable as an introductory or general history of the French Revolution, but it's a phenomenal addition to the historiography on the topic. In contextualizing the events of 9 Thermidor, he provides an incredible overview of what life in Paris was like on the eve of the Thermidorean Reaction, giving the reader the ability to imagine oneself in the setting, further enhancing his narrative of 9 Thermidor. Jones' account of the day itself completely transformed my conception of Robespierre, the Committee of Public Safety, and the Thermidoreans, and anyone seeking a deeper understanding of l'Incorruptible will find this book particularly rewarding. There are many names to keep track of, and Jones doesn't always follow up with the experiences of the individuals he introduces (especially those not involved in revolutionary politics), but he provides a vivid description of Robespierre's personality and devoted a great deal of discussion to his ambitions and idiosyncracies. Although the narrative drags a bit as Jones describes the convoluted street actions organized by the Convention and the Paris Commune, this book is still an engaging summary of one of the Revolution's most important events.
January 30, 2023
Very interesting read focusing on a single day which changed history. The day where liberty died - or a tyrant fell, depending on your political persuasion.
Personally I'd agree with the former, after reading numerous books on the terror I find myself gradually agreeing more and more with Robespierre, compared to what came after he was better.
But in any case, this book is pretty unique in the way it focuses on a single day and meticulously studies it. I liked the deep focus on just one day. I'm not sure how useful it is histographically but enjoyment wise it is definitely high in my estimation.
I'd recommend it.
Personally I'd agree with the former, after reading numerous books on the terror I find myself gradually agreeing more and more with Robespierre, compared to what came after he was better.
But in any case, this book is pretty unique in the way it focuses on a single day and meticulously studies it. I liked the deep focus on just one day. I'm not sure how useful it is histographically but enjoyment wise it is definitely high in my estimation.
I'd recommend it.
June 6, 2023
Libro muy pero que muy denso. A veces se hace eterno, lo que no habla muy bien del mismo. Es un libro increíblemente documentado pero esto produce cosas buenas y cosas negativas.
Las buenas son que si eres un amante de la revolución francesa este libro es tu libro y te va a encantar. Nos habla de miles de personajes , situaciones, traiciones, etc… un libro que si no lo lees con todos los sentidos puestos te perderás fácilmente.
La mala? Lo mismo pero al contrario… si no eres amante de la revolución el libro puede resultar tedioso por su difícil lectura y su extensión.
En definitiva, si os gusta esta época dadle una oportunidad si no os gusta pasad de el.
Las buenas son que si eres un amante de la revolución francesa este libro es tu libro y te va a encantar. Nos habla de miles de personajes , situaciones, traiciones, etc… un libro que si no lo lees con todos los sentidos puestos te perderás fácilmente.
La mala? Lo mismo pero al contrario… si no eres amante de la revolución el libro puede resultar tedioso por su difícil lectura y su extensión.
En definitiva, si os gusta esta época dadle una oportunidad si no os gusta pasad de el.
April 20, 2023
There is an inherent tension in history between the contingent and causation, the prospective and retrospective. It arises from the unbridgeable gap between participating and merely observing history. Viewed from hindsight, everything seems predetermined. So, would a very close look, a detailed dissection, give us some insight and help reconcile these contradictions? Well, the 9th of Thermidor is perfect for that, apparently being one of the most documented days in history.
In popular understanding, the day has been largely defined by the backview mirror of the Thermidorean Reaction - an overturned tyranny, exploded by the pent up anger build-up during the regime of 'the Terror', the spawn of Robespierre. However, zoomed in, we find that the actions undertaken during the day had nothing to do with any such tyrannicidal principles or anti-government sentiments, and all to do with intra-government personal frictions instead, which simply reached a flash-point in a heightened paranoia, whereby conspiracy hallucinations came by easily, to everyone.
What set it off was the speech Robespierre gave just the day before in the Convention, on 8th of Thermidor, during the two hours of which he tried to unveil his barely comprehensible conspiracy theory - the Great Plot, hatched abroad - just vague enough to arouse discomfort by implicating nearly everyone present. And certain people had more to fear than others, spurring them to action to save their skin. The motive had been simply to kill or be killed. As one participant put it, "the struggle of 9th Thermidor was not a question of principle, but of killing... the death of Robespierre had become a necessity."
To everyone's surprise, this desperate - and theatric - improvisation culminated in Robespierre overthrown and guilliotined with barely any shots fired.
None of this had anything to do with the repressions, executions and centralization taking place under the Revolutionary Government. The biggest contributors were in fact part of this very regime, and had no intention to dismantle it.
And yet, I'm confused. So a leader, whose popularity deemed him unassailable in everyone's eyes, was suddenly blown away like a house of cards, just because of one miscalculated speech? Come on, there has to be more than that.
How do unforeseen accidents happen? Numerous things must align, of different scope and magnitude. Usually the necessary conditions build up over time, slowly and invisibly. It is only the last of these, the final trigger, the most ephemeral and random - the spark - that catches the eye and seemingly alone causes the entire edifice to come down. A slow subsidence followed by a collapse. The author convincingly demonstrated 'the spark' on the 9th of Thermidor - the very specific and personal motives of only a handful of people - but I did not see the subsidence.
And yet there *was* a build-up. Like the falloff in the sans-culottes movement, the suffocation of popular opinion in speech and the Paris sections, the weird crackdown on celebratory banquets and most of all, the increasing fear and discomfort in the Convention - still reeling from previous purges - over the almost cult-like presence of Robespierre in the Revolution. But the author mentions them in passing and makes no connection.
The only connection he does make with preceding conditions, is the repeating pattern of the exposure of celebrated revolutionary readers as crooks and traitors, like Mirabeau, Lafayette, Dumouriez, Danton and Hebert, which conditioned the French so that the condemnation of Robespierre came almost naturally by that point. But that alone does not cut it, I think.
The author almost even implies that there were implicit forces at play on that day - hidden motivations which only came explicit after the fact and over time. Such as revealed by the nature of the Thermidorean Reaction - a dismantling of the regime, a shift to the right, White terror as a response to the Red terror, and an anti-Parisian, anti-socialist and anti-egalitarian conservative turn. *Almost* implies, but not quite. So he does not make the connection here, either.
Without these, I do not think the spark could have combusted the way it did, personal frictions or not.
I also do not think it was a coincidence that Robespierre's allies lacked organization, understanding and legitimacy - already before the official proclamations, placards or public meetings. Such characteristics usually reflect deeper issues. It was very reminiscent of the August Putsch in 1991 USSR - a kneejerk resuscitation of an order that had overstayed its welcome.
So while the author did a superb job bringing to life the participants, out from under the dust of retrospection, it feels he left the observer somewhat out in the cold.
Five stars, because extremely well written and immersive. Present-tense history should should be a bigger thing. This way history feels alive, which is important, because alive is what it was. Without this, there is no understanding.
In popular understanding, the day has been largely defined by the backview mirror of the Thermidorean Reaction - an overturned tyranny, exploded by the pent up anger build-up during the regime of 'the Terror', the spawn of Robespierre. However, zoomed in, we find that the actions undertaken during the day had nothing to do with any such tyrannicidal principles or anti-government sentiments, and all to do with intra-government personal frictions instead, which simply reached a flash-point in a heightened paranoia, whereby conspiracy hallucinations came by easily, to everyone.
What set it off was the speech Robespierre gave just the day before in the Convention, on 8th of Thermidor, during the two hours of which he tried to unveil his barely comprehensible conspiracy theory - the Great Plot, hatched abroad - just vague enough to arouse discomfort by implicating nearly everyone present. And certain people had more to fear than others, spurring them to action to save their skin. The motive had been simply to kill or be killed. As one participant put it, "the struggle of 9th Thermidor was not a question of principle, but of killing... the death of Robespierre had become a necessity."
To everyone's surprise, this desperate - and theatric - improvisation culminated in Robespierre overthrown and guilliotined with barely any shots fired.
None of this had anything to do with the repressions, executions and centralization taking place under the Revolutionary Government. The biggest contributors were in fact part of this very regime, and had no intention to dismantle it.
And yet, I'm confused. So a leader, whose popularity deemed him unassailable in everyone's eyes, was suddenly blown away like a house of cards, just because of one miscalculated speech? Come on, there has to be more than that.
How do unforeseen accidents happen? Numerous things must align, of different scope and magnitude. Usually the necessary conditions build up over time, slowly and invisibly. It is only the last of these, the final trigger, the most ephemeral and random - the spark - that catches the eye and seemingly alone causes the entire edifice to come down. A slow subsidence followed by a collapse. The author convincingly demonstrated 'the spark' on the 9th of Thermidor - the very specific and personal motives of only a handful of people - but I did not see the subsidence.
And yet there *was* a build-up. Like the falloff in the sans-culottes movement, the suffocation of popular opinion in speech and the Paris sections, the weird crackdown on celebratory banquets and most of all, the increasing fear and discomfort in the Convention - still reeling from previous purges - over the almost cult-like presence of Robespierre in the Revolution. But the author mentions them in passing and makes no connection.
The only connection he does make with preceding conditions, is the repeating pattern of the exposure of celebrated revolutionary readers as crooks and traitors, like Mirabeau, Lafayette, Dumouriez, Danton and Hebert, which conditioned the French so that the condemnation of Robespierre came almost naturally by that point. But that alone does not cut it, I think.
The author almost even implies that there were implicit forces at play on that day - hidden motivations which only came explicit after the fact and over time. Such as revealed by the nature of the Thermidorean Reaction - a dismantling of the regime, a shift to the right, White terror as a response to the Red terror, and an anti-Parisian, anti-socialist and anti-egalitarian conservative turn. *Almost* implies, but not quite. So he does not make the connection here, either.
Without these, I do not think the spark could have combusted the way it did, personal frictions or not.
I also do not think it was a coincidence that Robespierre's allies lacked organization, understanding and legitimacy - already before the official proclamations, placards or public meetings. Such characteristics usually reflect deeper issues. It was very reminiscent of the August Putsch in 1991 USSR - a kneejerk resuscitation of an order that had overstayed its welcome.
So while the author did a superb job bringing to life the participants, out from under the dust of retrospection, it feels he left the observer somewhat out in the cold.
Five stars, because extremely well written and immersive. Present-tense history should should be a bigger thing. This way history feels alive, which is important, because alive is what it was. Without this, there is no understanding.
June 30, 2025
This is probably the best book on the French Revolutionary period that I’ve read so far, which is saying a lot since it’s intentionally narrow scope focused solely on the actions taken on a single day.
July 27th, 1794, or 9 Thermidor, is rightfully remembered as a critical turning point in the history of the French Revolution. The moment where the policy of Republican government began its fundamental shift away from the promotion radically egalitarian principles and institutions toward those of a more moderate liberal outlook.
However, Collin Jones does something incredibly interesting here. He uses the absolute abundance of primary source documentation available regarding the events of 9 Thermidor to fundamentally challenge the ideologically motivated portrayal of these events, crafted retroactively by the Thermidorian Convention themselves, and which have since become the accepted narrative of historians of the French Revolution ever since. He challenges the notion of the existence of preconceived conspiratorial intentions on the part of either side of the conflict, and the idea of a depoliticized Parisian public, instead crafting a narrative of chaos, confusion, and mass popular mobilization which made these events possible.
Robespierre himself is portrayed somewhat sympathetically in this account, but Jones is also clear that it was Robespierre’s own impolitic actions in the days and weeks prior to 9 Thermidor which ultimately sealed his fate. Fundamentally, this is a story of a conflict of values within the public consciousness of Paris itself, whether to rally behind the banner of Republican institutions or of a single man. The people, in the end, overwhelmingly chose institutions.
Higher level political decision making was still significant factor in the days events however, and this book brilliantly details the rising and falling prospects at different points in the day of the National Convention and the Paris Commune. Ultimately, the victory of the National Convention came about as a result of the indecisive and sluggish nature of the communes’ decision making, its own alienation from the will of the people it claimed to represent over the previous months, and the generally positive light in which Parisians tended to view the Revolutionary Government.
However, in the months following 9 Thermidor, the people of Paris came to find that the Revolutionary Government which they had fought to preserve was being dismantled by the very people they had thrown their support behind in order to preserve it. The people drove history on 9 Thermidor, but the National Convention moved swiftly over the following months to further disrupt and destroy the levers of popular power, and began instituting a new and deeply unpopular reform program that left the Convention’s supporters out in the cold.
This is a fascinating narrative on the nature and flow of revolutionary power, and a beautifully up close and personal analysis of an era defining day in the political history of France and the world. This book was phenomenal.
5/5
July 27th, 1794, or 9 Thermidor, is rightfully remembered as a critical turning point in the history of the French Revolution. The moment where the policy of Republican government began its fundamental shift away from the promotion radically egalitarian principles and institutions toward those of a more moderate liberal outlook.
However, Collin Jones does something incredibly interesting here. He uses the absolute abundance of primary source documentation available regarding the events of 9 Thermidor to fundamentally challenge the ideologically motivated portrayal of these events, crafted retroactively by the Thermidorian Convention themselves, and which have since become the accepted narrative of historians of the French Revolution ever since. He challenges the notion of the existence of preconceived conspiratorial intentions on the part of either side of the conflict, and the idea of a depoliticized Parisian public, instead crafting a narrative of chaos, confusion, and mass popular mobilization which made these events possible.
Robespierre himself is portrayed somewhat sympathetically in this account, but Jones is also clear that it was Robespierre’s own impolitic actions in the days and weeks prior to 9 Thermidor which ultimately sealed his fate. Fundamentally, this is a story of a conflict of values within the public consciousness of Paris itself, whether to rally behind the banner of Republican institutions or of a single man. The people, in the end, overwhelmingly chose institutions.
Higher level political decision making was still significant factor in the days events however, and this book brilliantly details the rising and falling prospects at different points in the day of the National Convention and the Paris Commune. Ultimately, the victory of the National Convention came about as a result of the indecisive and sluggish nature of the communes’ decision making, its own alienation from the will of the people it claimed to represent over the previous months, and the generally positive light in which Parisians tended to view the Revolutionary Government.
However, in the months following 9 Thermidor, the people of Paris came to find that the Revolutionary Government which they had fought to preserve was being dismantled by the very people they had thrown their support behind in order to preserve it. The people drove history on 9 Thermidor, but the National Convention moved swiftly over the following months to further disrupt and destroy the levers of popular power, and began instituting a new and deeply unpopular reform program that left the Convention’s supporters out in the cold.
This is a fascinating narrative on the nature and flow of revolutionary power, and a beautifully up close and personal analysis of an era defining day in the political history of France and the world. This book was phenomenal.
5/5
June 6, 2022
Engrossing account of Maximilien Robespierre's dramatic last 24 hours on earth. His fall from grace -- if it was grace he merited for the brutality he had inflicted on his compatriots in the interests of the Revolution and making France pure -- is stunning in its speed. Setting out for the Convention that morning from his lodgings in Rue du Faubourg St Honore he was strutting like a peacock thinking he and his devoted ally St Just who was to deliver a crucial speech that day would emerge triumphant as things had got rather tense at the top. However, as Forrest Gump opined life is like a box of chocolates 'you never know what you're going to get'...and old Max certainly discovered that. Will not go into too much detail. Suffice to say Robespierre's fate in theory revolving around contrasting views of the Revolution -- though much is actually down to Convention members fearing that their names are on Robespierre's next conspirators list -- becomes a stand off between the national Convention and the Paris City Hall with a rich array of characters. Jones's research is extraordinary in coming up with even anecdotes about the most unimportant of citizens whilst he puts into context how some of the greatest reforms due to the Revolution -- women's rights, freedom of the press etc -- have been rowed back on largely at Robespierre's behest. There is terrific detail too on how appalling the conditions were in the crowded prisons. The guillotine the symbol of 'The Terror' -- the trials were a sham an example Hitler's Judge Freisler would expand upon in the 20th century. The description of how differently the accused dealt with preparing for execution is stark: 'Louis XV's last mistress Mme du Barry (aged 50), made a spectacular performance of shrieking and sobbing, while other individuals go laughing and joking to the scaffold as if they were off to a wedding feast.' Jones, though, says a refusal to look miserable became a common thread amongst the far too many who were executed and comes up with two lovely lines: 'There is an 'emulation about dying well' to which many aspire. On the road to the guillotine, the smile has become a silent weapon of symbolic resistance.' That is as a good a snub to the vile Robespierre as his end was which he does not meet with a smile....this is a superb must read book one of the best if not the best I have read on this pre-Napoleon 'la gloire' era. Chapeau Colin Jones..if one still has a head to lift it from....
June 4, 2025
Colin Jones has written what may prove the greatest collection of micro-histories. Dedicated to one day in the larger history of the French Revolution, The Fall of Robespierre takes its inspiration from the 18th-century journalist and playwright, Louis-Sebastian Mercier, to drill into the details of everyday life during the events of 27 Thermidor 1792, focusing on the microcosms of political experience to inform the mechanics of change at a higher, macro level.
https://global.oup.com/academic/produ...
“Everyday life,” a favorite among buzzwords within historian circles dealing with transformational moments at the extremes of social and political reality, here makes the sans-culottes the object of inquiry. Jones is dealing not only with the history of experience, in line with seminal work of Lynne Hunt (unacknowledged, but present), and perhaps even Habermas in the study’s attention to novel forms of communication at the core of the revolutionary experiment, but also with new forms of writing history. At the top of his acknowledgements: the Oulipo school and its concept of “constraint” in generating new ways of thinking about familiar ideas and topics.
Already the book is doing a great job of both presenting its novel approach to its subject, chapters organized by each hour of the day 27 Thermidor, and making plain the ample sources of evidence at hand, primarily that of the Barras inquiry (https://www.britannica.com/biography/...) as well as police reports and journal entries of participants. I’m especially interested in how Jones will use those “24 hours” to explore the world-historic appearance of mass politics by way of the san-culottes’ journees (days of action) and their integration into the process of legislative decision-making.
For more about Oulipo:
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/educ...
And to add to the (ever-growing) list, from Rutgers University Press (2023):
https://www.rutgersuniversitypress.or...
https://global.oup.com/academic/produ...
“Everyday life,” a favorite among buzzwords within historian circles dealing with transformational moments at the extremes of social and political reality, here makes the sans-culottes the object of inquiry. Jones is dealing not only with the history of experience, in line with seminal work of Lynne Hunt (unacknowledged, but present), and perhaps even Habermas in the study’s attention to novel forms of communication at the core of the revolutionary experiment, but also with new forms of writing history. At the top of his acknowledgements: the Oulipo school and its concept of “constraint” in generating new ways of thinking about familiar ideas and topics.
Already the book is doing a great job of both presenting its novel approach to its subject, chapters organized by each hour of the day 27 Thermidor, and making plain the ample sources of evidence at hand, primarily that of the Barras inquiry (https://www.britannica.com/biography/...) as well as police reports and journal entries of participants. I’m especially interested in how Jones will use those “24 hours” to explore the world-historic appearance of mass politics by way of the san-culottes’ journees (days of action) and their integration into the process of legislative decision-making.
For more about Oulipo:
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/educ...
And to add to the (ever-growing) list, from Rutgers University Press (2023):
https://www.rutgersuniversitypress.or...
October 11, 2024
I was expecting the granularity to be overwhelming, but instead this ended up one of the easiest-to-follow books about the French Revolution I've read. The only other with as clear a narrative among the chaos is probably Hillary Mantel's novel A Place of Greater Safety.
Of course, being focused on a single chaotic day a few years into the Revolution means a good amount of background knowledge is necessary, but there's enough context given here to remind and navigate. It could even be a blessing - the tight focus, set after many of the other major players have already been guillotined, makes it much easier to keep track of who's who, why they're important, and what their (frequently shifting) motivations might have been.
There's enough here for a repeat visit to be warranted, and enough to make me want to take a broader view again. The revolutionary-Napoleonic era remains endlessly fascinating, and this kind of micro history, Annales School style, could well be more revealing than the more traditional macro political or Great Man approaches. After all, how did an entire society shift so rapidly towards support for the Terror?
That, by the way, is this book's central argument - and it's fairly convincingly made: The fall of Robespierre wasn't about opposition to the Terror at all, no matter how much the narrative was retrofitted to claim this, and to blame him almost exclusively for the mass murders. From the minute-by-minute evidence of the day, there were few grander designs intended on the day.
Except perhaps by Talleyrand - a figure who, like Robespierre, gets more intriguing and confusing the more I learn about him. I need to find a good biography.
Of course, being focused on a single chaotic day a few years into the Revolution means a good amount of background knowledge is necessary, but there's enough context given here to remind and navigate. It could even be a blessing - the tight focus, set after many of the other major players have already been guillotined, makes it much easier to keep track of who's who, why they're important, and what their (frequently shifting) motivations might have been.
There's enough here for a repeat visit to be warranted, and enough to make me want to take a broader view again. The revolutionary-Napoleonic era remains endlessly fascinating, and this kind of micro history, Annales School style, could well be more revealing than the more traditional macro political or Great Man approaches. After all, how did an entire society shift so rapidly towards support for the Terror?
That, by the way, is this book's central argument - and it's fairly convincingly made: The fall of Robespierre wasn't about opposition to the Terror at all, no matter how much the narrative was retrofitted to claim this, and to blame him almost exclusively for the mass murders. From the minute-by-minute evidence of the day, there were few grander designs intended on the day.
Except perhaps by Talleyrand - a figure who, like Robespierre, gets more intriguing and confusing the more I learn about him. I need to find a good biography.
August 31, 2025
🌟 "La caída de Robespierre" del historiador británico Colin Jones es una reconstrucción sólida e imponente, producto de un gran esfuerzo historiográfico, para explicar el entramado de uno de los momentos decisivos de la Revolución Francesa. Si bien me llevó mucho tiempo su lectura, valió la pena cada página.
⭐️ La journée del 9 termidor se nos presenta aquí como un puzzle de múltiples actores y acontecimientos reconstruido de forma minuciosa y sumamente atractiva. La narración, que rompe con el formato habitual de los textos historiográficos, habilita a la inmersión del lector en el París revolucionario y facilita sostener el interés a pesar de la extensión de la obra.
🌟 El historiador se propone escribir una historia de la caída de Robespierre "desde la distancia" pero observando "de cerca" y "sin recurrir al vocabulario analítico y a los esquemas interpretativos que se desarrollaron en el período termidoriano", lo cual logra con creces y constituye su principal aporte historiográfico. En este camino, revisa una serie de mitos y lecturas anteriores sobre el 9 termidor, otro punto alto de la obra.
⭐️ La obra destaca, a su ve, por el manejo de un corpus documental amplio que se integra de forma excelente en la narración histórica.
🌟 Recomiendo esta lectura para aquellos interesados en el período o que busquen una reconstrucción exhaustiva de este hito clave de la Revolución.
⭐️ La journée del 9 termidor se nos presenta aquí como un puzzle de múltiples actores y acontecimientos reconstruido de forma minuciosa y sumamente atractiva. La narración, que rompe con el formato habitual de los textos historiográficos, habilita a la inmersión del lector en el París revolucionario y facilita sostener el interés a pesar de la extensión de la obra.
🌟 El historiador se propone escribir una historia de la caída de Robespierre "desde la distancia" pero observando "de cerca" y "sin recurrir al vocabulario analítico y a los esquemas interpretativos que se desarrollaron en el período termidoriano", lo cual logra con creces y constituye su principal aporte historiográfico. En este camino, revisa una serie de mitos y lecturas anteriores sobre el 9 termidor, otro punto alto de la obra.
⭐️ La obra destaca, a su ve, por el manejo de un corpus documental amplio que se integra de forma excelente en la narración histórica.
🌟 Recomiendo esta lectura para aquellos interesados en el período o que busquen una reconstrucción exhaustiva de este hito clave de la Revolución.
February 20, 2022
First of all, this is nowhere as long as you might think. There are a lot of notes, and very helpful indices and character sketches which plump it out a lot. The list of characters is invaluable, because there are several people with very similar names.
I'm always a bit wary about History books written in the present text - the very epitome of an oxymoron - but this works quite well here for most of the time. Once the action begins it is relentless, and is almost like a political thriller; completely gripping. At times, it's hard to remember who is doing what to whom and why. This is hardly surprising because there were so many changes of direction in such a short time. Overall, a gripping account of how a tyrant who held all the aces was overthrown with comparative ease. It is easy to see how the book has received so many plaudits.
I'm always a bit wary about History books written in the present text - the very epitome of an oxymoron - but this works quite well here for most of the time. Once the action begins it is relentless, and is almost like a political thriller; completely gripping. At times, it's hard to remember who is doing what to whom and why. This is hardly surprising because there were so many changes of direction in such a short time. Overall, a gripping account of how a tyrant who held all the aces was overthrown with comparative ease. It is easy to see how the book has received so many plaudits.
July 14, 2024
A brilliant account of a pivotal day in the French Revolutionary period. The book traces hour-by-hour how, over the course of a day, Robespierre fell from the pinnacle of government to being guillotined.
The style of the book, which is written largely in the present tense, really helps to underline how quickly events moved and the amount of confusion that reigned throughout most of the day. It also shows how uncoordinated both attack on Robespierre was and how disorganised his supporters were when they did try to resist it.
The opening sections of the book are quite slow (perhaps because, inevitably fewer people are awake between at midnight) but this does give a good opportunity for the author to fill in a lot of the background so that once Robespierre reaches the National Convention and the attack against him begins the narrative flows very well.
The style of the book, which is written largely in the present tense, really helps to underline how quickly events moved and the amount of confusion that reigned throughout most of the day. It also shows how uncoordinated both attack on Robespierre was and how disorganised his supporters were when they did try to resist it.
The opening sections of the book are quite slow (perhaps because, inevitably fewer people are awake between at midnight) but this does give a good opportunity for the author to fill in a lot of the background so that once Robespierre reaches the National Convention and the attack against him begins the narrative flows very well.
April 28, 2023
History happens in minutes, seconds, and moments, not the grand sweep of years and eras written down on the pages of history books. So goes Colin Jones's book about the 24 hours before the fall (political and mortal) of Maximilien Robespierre and the many contingencies of the day that led to the bloody climax of the Terror. Jones's book is quite detailed, literally an hour-by-hour sketch of the machinations of the Committee of Public Safety, the National Convention, Robespierre himself, and the Parisian government and sans-culottes masses. Across the hours, Robespierre is portrayed less as a mastermind than a victim of circumstances, caught up in a dangerous game of accusations and bloodsport with fellow Convention delegates, which ultimately seals his fate.
October 27, 2022
I was into the french revolution and this book is the best of putting you "in the vibe" by vividly what happens during this particular day.
I liked how messy things feel. How the chain of command is clear in theory, but in practice if people decide otherwise, what's going to be against them? In this context of course mobs have a lot of power.
I couldn't finish the book though. Since we know the end, I felt no tension to know how it would resolve.
Long and detailed: That what's appealing about the book but also its weakness.
I wouldn't recommend it unless you are really into revolutions.
I liked how messy things feel. How the chain of command is clear in theory, but in practice if people decide otherwise, what's going to be against them? In this context of course mobs have a lot of power.
I couldn't finish the book though. Since we know the end, I felt no tension to know how it would resolve.
Long and detailed: That what's appealing about the book but also its weakness.
I wouldn't recommend it unless you are really into revolutions.
July 21, 2023
First of all, this is not an introductory text to the French Revolution - you should know the basics going in or you will be lost.
While Jones managed to dig up a ton of primary documents about the event and the many, many people in Paris that day, I felt it should have centered more on Robespierre himself. He gets rather neglected in his own book.
Also, it was hard for me to really get into this when it was so disconcerting to read about how childish and petty everyone was. There's no sense of anyone being cleaver or smart or having any sort of plan - its all cliques and in-the-moment-feelings, like a middle school cafeteria.
September 24, 2023
This book takes a very interesting approach and describes in detail, both in time and in place, the 24 hours of the fall of Robespierre. It uses the present tense in doing so and it gives a real feeling of being present at the action. Along the way it provides the necessary background information (e.g. journees against Louis XVI and against the Girondins). This is essential - at least to me - as the French Revolution and the subsequent years are complex with many players and factions. Overall a great book.
October 5, 2023
A painstakingly-researched and detailed (perhaps more than the reader needs to know) account of the 24 hours preceding the transition of a key architect of the ‘Terror’ from hunter to hunted. From this earliest example of chaotic mob rule, we see socialists eating their own as they battle amongst themselves to dominate the ‘masses’ in ways as brutal as the feudalists they replaced.
Many of the obvious flaws and hypocrisies of socialism that have made themselves apparent in the unbroken streak of failures leading up to this day are amply demonstrated in this earliest, tragic example.
Many of the obvious flaws and hypocrisies of socialism that have made themselves apparent in the unbroken streak of failures leading up to this day are amply demonstrated in this earliest, tragic example.
January 14, 2022
An exceptional book detailing the situational context of Robespierre's shocking 24 hour demise. It beautifully captures the conflict between the convention and the commune, and the sequence of events that leave the reader with a clear picture of how the outcomes could have been drastically different had even a few developments progressed differently. One of the best books on the French Revolution in years.
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