Phantom Terror: The Threat of Revolution and the Repression of Liberty 1789-1848 - Hardcover

Adam Zamoyski

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0007282761 ISBN 13: 9780007282760

Publisher: William Collins, 2013

Synopsis

The French Revolution and the violence it unleashed terrified the ruling classes of Europe. After Napoleon's defeat in 1815, the victors united to restore the old order by any means necessary. This ground-breaking history shows how, from London to Moscow, they resorted to the use of secret police and the bayonet to ferret out real or imagined conspirators and crush subversion. Chilling and often darkly comic, it charts the development of the modern state and its covert organs of control.

About this title

About the Author:

Adam Zamoyski was born in New York, was educated at Oxford, and lives in London and Poland. A full-time writer, his books include 'Paderewski', 'The Last King of Poland','1812: Napoleon's Fatal March on Moscow', which was a Sunday Times bestseller, 'Rites of Peace: The Fall of Napoleon and the Congress of Vienna', 'Warsaw 1920' and 'Chopin'. He is married to the painter Emma Sergeant.

Review:

'Vivid, terrifying and often quite funny ... an interesting take on 1848 ... this superbly drawn story is full of painful allegories' The Times 'Splendidly provocative ... perceptive and often amusing ... full of arresting details and sharp asides ... Adam Zamoyski writes like a dancer at a court ball: gracious, patrician, masterful, sure-footed ... Phantom Terror is a thumping great pleasure to read ... history at its best' Spectator 'Scintillating and original' Economist 'We know the Napoleonic era well, but the Decades after Napoleon's fall are often neglected. Adam Zamoyski covers those years, showing how fear of revolution caused the autocrats of Europe to repress freedom on an unprecedented scale' Simon Sebag Montefiore, Mail on Sunday 'Zamoyski's prose is unfailingly sleek' Literary Review 'A memorably impressive and important book. 'Phantom Terror' is scholarly, well-written and enjoyable, with fascinating insights on almost every page of this tour d'horizon of reactionary Europe in the revolutionary age' Orlando Figes 'Both very enjoyable and timely. Elegantly written, its subject matter is the response of governments across Europe to the violent eruption of the French Revolution and its aftermath' Jeremy Jennings, Standpoint

About this edition

• Publisher: William Collins
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0007282761
• ISBN 13: 9780007282760
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 569