Terror

The French Revolution and Its Demons

By: Michel Biard, Marisa Linton, Timothy Tackett (Foreword by)

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Hardcover | 26 November 2021 | Edition Number 1

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Hardcover
250 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
23.11 x 15.75 x 2.54

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At the heart of how history sees the French Revolution lies the enigma of the Terror. How did this archetypal revolution, founded on the principles of liberty and equality and the promotion of human rights, arrive at circumstances where it carried out the violent and terrible repression of its opponents? The guillotine, initially designed to be a âhumaneâ form of capital punishment, became a formidable instrument of political repression and left a deep imprint, not only on how we see the Revolution, but also on how Franceâs image has been depicted in the world.

This book reconstructs the Terror in all its complexity. It shows that the popular view of a so-called âsystem of terrorâ was retrospectively invented by the group of revolutionaries who overthrew Robespierre, as a way of trying to exonerate themselves from culpability. What we think of as âthe Terrorâ is best understood as an improvised and sometimes chaotic response to events, based on the urgent needs of a revolutionary government confronted by a succession of political and military crises. It was a government of âexceptionâ â" a crisis government.

Terror brings together a wealth of factual elements, along with recent thinking on the ideological, emotional and tactical dimensions of revolutionary politics, to throw new light on how the phenomenon of terror came to demonise the image and memory of the French Revolution. It will be essential reading for students and scholars of the French Revolution and for anyone concerned with the ways in which political conflict can descend into violence.

Industry Reviews

“This brief and compelling book confronts all the major issues posed by ‘the Terror’ of the French Revolution and lays to rest the myths and distortions created at the time and propagated ever since. It will be a continuing point of reference for anyone interested in these epochal events and their continuing resonance.”
Lynn Hunt, University of California, Los Angeles

“This is historical scholarship at its finest. Two of our leading historians of the Revolution dissect its most contentious, confronting period with lucidity, conceptual skill and cutting-edge knowledge. The result is a wise and illuminating rethinking of ‘the Terror’.”
Peter McPhee, The University of Melbourne

“Some books crystallize an historiographical moment. Michel Biard and Marisa Linton’s condensed, indeed clarified, English translation of Terreur: La Revolution française face a ses demons does exactly that. They have synthesized recent research, both in French and English, and added their own very considerable expertise. This book is now the starting point in debates about the Terror/terror.”
French History

“The authors stress the overwhelming impact of emotions, some positive, some like fear, desperately negative. This account, impressively clear, concise and scholarly, provides a very convincing account which will serve the needs of university students and provoke the interest of general readers. It is the work of two leading experts in France and Britain, endorsed by an American expert of world renown.”
Modern & Contemporary France

"[A] worthy text that very helpfully condenses several major historiographical and ideological debates around the French revolutionary Terror into a readable discussion."
Journal of Modern History

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