An edition of Robespierre (2012)

Robespierre

a revolutionary life

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Last edited by ImportBot
August 21, 2020 | History
An edition of Robespierre (2012)

Robespierre

a revolutionary life

  • 5.0 (1 rating)
  • 8 Want to read
  • 1 Have read

For some historians and biographers, Maximilien Robespierre (1758-94) was a great revolutionary martyr who succeeded in leading the French Republic to safety in the face of overwhelming military odds. For many others, he was the first modern dictator, a fanatic who instigated the murderous Reign of Terror in 1793-94. This masterful biography combines new research into Robespierre's dramatic life with a deep understanding of society and the politics of the French Revolution to arrive at a fresh understanding of the man, his passions, and his tragic shortcomings. Peter McPhee gives special attention to Robespierre's formative years and the development of an iron will in a frail boy conceived outside wedlock and on the margins of polite provincial society. Exploring how these experiences formed the young lawyer who arrived in Versailles in 1789, the author discovers not the cold, obsessive Robespierre of legend, but a man of passion with close but platonic friendships with women. Soon immersed in revolutionary conflict, he suffered increasingly lengthy periods of nervous collapse correlating with moments of political crisis, yet Robespierre was tragically unable to step away from the crushing burdens of leadership. Did his ruthless, uncompromising exercise of power reflect a descent into madness in his final year of life? McPhee reevaluates the ideology and reality of "the Terror," what Robespierre intended, and whether it represented an abandonment or a reversal of his early liberalism and sense of justice. - Publisher.

Publish Date
Language
English
Pages
320

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Edition Availability
Cover of: Robespierre
Robespierre: a revolutionary life
2013, Yale University Press
Paperback in English
Cover of: Robespierre
Robespierre: a revolutionary life
2012, Yale University Press
in English

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Book Details


Table of Contents

A "serious, grown-up, hard-working" little boy : Arras 1758-69
"An extremely strong desire to succeed" : Paris 1769-81
"Such a talented man" : Arras 1781-84
"Bachelorhood seems to encourage rebelliousness" : Arras 1784-89
"We are winning" : Versailles 1789
"Daring to clean out the Augean stables" : Paris 1789-91
"The vengeance of the people" : Paris 1791-92
"Did you want a revolution without revolution?" : Paris 1792-93
"A complete regeneration" : Paris, July-December 1793
"Men with changing tongues" : Paris, January-June 1794
"The unhappiest man alive" : Paris, July 1794
Epilogue : "That modern Procrustes"
Chronology

Edition Notes

Published in
New Haven, CT

Classifications

Library of Congress
DC146.R6

The Physical Object

Format
Paperback
Number of pages
320
Dimensions
20 x x centimeters

Edition Identifiers

Open Library
OL25765290M
ISBN 10
0300197241
ISBN 13
9780300197242

Work Identifiers

Work ID
OL16014714W

Source records

Better World Books record

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Download catalog record: RDF / JSON
August 21, 2020 Edited by ImportBot import existing book
February 28, 2020 Edited by MARC Bot remove fake subjects
July 14, 2017 Edited by Mek adding subject: Internet Archive Wishlist
September 6, 2015 Edited by Bryan Tyson Added new cover
July 30, 2011 Created by LC Bot import new book