The best books about Maximilien Robespierre

What is my book about?

More than any other political figure from the French revolutionary era, Maximilien Robespierre divides historians: some see him as an embodiment of totalitarian evil, others the shining champion of the popular cause and of individual freedoms. In my recently-published The Fall of Robespierre: 24 Hours in Revolutionary Paris (Oxford University Press), I tried a novel approach by exploring how this enigmatic figure behaved over the 24 hours of the political crisis that led to his overthrow and death by guillotine.

As he saw his plans for the Revolution rejected point-blank not only by fellow politicians but also by the ordinary people of Paris whose welfare he had always championed, his fall took on the features of Greek tragedy. 

What is my book about?

In my book, I seek to lay out, in as clear and uncomplicated a fashion as possible, the origins and development of the revolution, from the early promise of a buoyant slogan ‘Liberty, Equality, Fraternity’ to its trashing when a cruelly vindictive spirit took over and perverted the tone and mission of a movement towards a new compassion and consideration of public welfare. 

Meticulously researched and drawing on many French sources the story is here in as direct a form as I could make it. A big sweep of history, by no means comprehensive – that would become unreadable – but it covers all the signal events from the storming of the Bastille and onward. 

What is my book about?

More than any other political figure from the French revolutionary era, Maximilien Robespierre divides historians: some see him as an embodiment of totalitarian evil, others the shining champion of the popular cause and of individual freedoms. In my recently-published The Fall of Robespierre: 24 Hours in Revolutionary Paris (Oxford University Press), I tried a novel approach by exploring how this enigmatic figure behaved over the 24 hours of the political crisis that led to his overthrow and death by guillotine.

As he saw his plans for the Revolution rejected point-blank not only by fellow politicians but also by the ordinary people of Paris whose welfare he had always championed, his fall took on the features of Greek tragedy. 

What is my book about?

More than any other political figure from the French revolutionary era, Maximilien Robespierre divides historians: some see him as an embodiment of totalitarian evil, others the shining champion of the popular cause and of individual freedoms. In my recently-published The Fall of Robespierre: 24 Hours in Revolutionary Paris (Oxford University Press), I tried a novel approach by exploring how this enigmatic figure behaved over the 24 hours of the political crisis that led to his overthrow and death by guillotine.

As he saw his plans for the Revolution rejected point-blank not only by fellow politicians but also by the ordinary people of Paris whose welfare he had always championed, his fall took on the features of Greek tragedy. 

What is my book about?

Diderot and the Art of Thinking Freely is a spirited biography of the life of France’s most famous Enlightenment-era atheist. For those people who have never heard of him, Diderot was the consummate Enlightenment polymath, the type of thinker who might write on ancient Chinese and Greek music first thing in the morning, study the mechanics of a cotton mill until noon, help purchase some paintings for Catherine the Great in the afternoon, and then return home and compose a play and a fifteen-page letter to his mistress before going to bed. This book chronicles Diderot’s amazing life, including his tormented relationship with Jean-Jacques Rousseau, his curious correspondence with Voltaire, his passionate affairs, and his often-iconoclastic stands on art, theater, morality, politics, and religion.

What is my book about?

In my book, I seek to lay out, in as clear and uncomplicated a fashion as possible, the origins and development of the revolution, from the early promise of a buoyant slogan ‘Liberty, Equality, Fraternity’ to its trashing when a cruelly vindictive spirit took over and perverted the tone and mission of a movement towards a new compassion and consideration of public welfare. 

Meticulously researched and drawing on many French sources the story is here in as direct a form as I could make it. A big sweep of history, by no means comprehensive – that would become unreadable – but it covers all the signal events from the storming of the Bastille and onward. 

What is my book about?

More than any other political figure from the French revolutionary era, Maximilien Robespierre divides historians: some see him as an embodiment of totalitarian evil, others the shining champion of the popular cause and of individual freedoms. In my recently-published The Fall of Robespierre: 24 Hours in Revolutionary Paris (Oxford University Press), I tried a novel approach by exploring how this enigmatic figure behaved over the 24 hours of the political crisis that led to his overthrow and death by guillotine.

As he saw his plans for the Revolution rejected point-blank not only by fellow politicians but also by the ordinary people of Paris whose welfare he had always championed, his fall took on the features of Greek tragedy. 

What is my book about?

In my book, I seek to lay out, in as clear and uncomplicated a fashion as possible, the origins and development of the revolution, from the early promise of a buoyant slogan ‘Liberty, Equality, Fraternity’ to its trashing when a cruelly vindictive spirit took over and perverted the tone and mission of a movement towards a new compassion and consideration of public welfare. 

Meticulously researched and drawing on many French sources the story is here in as direct a form as I could make it. A big sweep of history, by no means comprehensive – that would become unreadable – but it covers all the signal events from the storming of the Bastille and onward. 

What is my book about?

The French Revolution has fascinated, perplexed, and inspired for more than two centuries. It was a seismic event that radically transformed France and launched shock waves across the world.

In this new history, I sought to create a fresh account of one of the world’s great revolutions—its origins, drama, complexity, and significance. Was the Revolution a major turning point in French—even world—history, or was it instead a protracted period of violent upheaval and warfare that wrecked millions of lives? We also need to examine the varying experiences of most French citizens who lived outside the gates of the city: the provincial men and women whose daily lives were overwhelmed by revolution and war. The stories of individuals who struggled to cope in such unpredictable times enable us to enter the social and cultural world of the eighteenth century which was transformed by France’s age of revolution. Life would never be the same again for anyone.

What is my book about?

In my book, I seek to lay out, in as clear and uncomplicated a fashion as possible, the origins and development of the revolution, from the early promise of a buoyant slogan ‘Liberty, Equality, Fraternity’ to its trashing when a cruelly vindictive spirit took over and perverted the tone and mission of a movement towards a new compassion and consideration of public welfare. 

Meticulously researched and drawing on many French sources the story is here in as direct a form as I could make it. A big sweep of history, by no means comprehensive – that would become unreadable – but it covers all the signal events from the storming of the Bastille and onward.