Items related to Fatal Purity: Robespierre and the French Revolution

Fatal Purity: Robespierre and the French Revolution - Softcover

  • 3.91 out of 5 stars
    1,333 ratings by Goodreads
 
Image Not Available

Synopsis

"Judicious, balanced, and admirably clear at every point. This is quite the calmest and least abusive history of the Revolution you will ever read."
―Hilary Mantel, London Review of Books

Since his execution by guillotine in July 1794, Maximilien Robespierre has been contested terrain for historians. Was he a bloodthirsty charlatan or the only true defender of revolutionary ideals? The first modern dictator or the earliest democrat? Was his extreme moralism a heroic virtue or a ruinous flaw?

Against the dramatic backdrop of the French Revolution, historian Ruth Scurr tracks Robespierre's evolution from provincial lawyer to devastatingly efficient revolutionary leader, righteous and paranoid in equal measure. She explores his reformist zeal, his role in the fall of the monarchy, his passionate attempts to design a modern republic, even his extraordinary effort to found a perfect religion. And she follows him into the Terror, as the former death- penalty opponent makes summary execution the order of the day, himself falling victim to the violence at the age of thirty-six.

Written with epic sweep, full of nuance and insight, Fatal Purity is a fascinating portrait of a man who identified with the Revolution to the point of madness, and in so doing changed the course of history.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

About the Author

Born in 1971, Ruth Scurr studied at Oxford and Cambridge, where she currently teaches politics and history. A prominent literary critic, she has written for The New York Review of Books and The Times Literary Supplement. Fatal Purity is her first book.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Preface 
My dear Croker,
 
I wish you would think seriously of the History of the Reign of Terror. I do not mean a pompous, philosophical history, but a mixture of biography, facts and gossip: a diary of what really took place with the best authenticated likenesses of the actors.
 
Ever yours,
 
Robert Peel1
 
Soon after he received this letter from his friend Sir Robert Peel, the once and future Tory prime minister, John Wilson Croker packed his bags for a seaside holiday. Although he was a prominent literary and political journalist and was hoping to work as he sat on the beach, Croker packed none of his collection of rare and fascinating books about the French Revolution that are now one of the glories of the British Library. He took with him only the list of those condemned to death during the Reign of Terror.2 He perused it against the rhythmic sound of waves breaking on the shore.
 
Twenty-two impoverished women, many of them widows, convicted of forwarding "the designs of the fanatics, aristocrats, priests and other agents of England," guillotined.
 
Nine private soldiers convicted of "pricking their own eyes with pins, and becoming by this cowardly artifice unable to bear arms," guillotined.
 
Jean Baptiste Henry, aged eighteen, journeyman tailor, convicted of sawing down a tree of liberty, guillotined.
 
Henrietta Frances de Marbœuf, aged fifty-five, convicted of hoping for the arrival in Paris of the Austrian and Prussian armies and of hoarding provisions for them, guillotined.
 
James Duchesne, aged sixty, formerly a servant, since a broker; John Sauvage, aged thirty-four, gunsmith; Frances Loizelier, aged forty-seven, milliner; Mélanie Cunosse, aged twenty-one, milliner; Mary Magdalen Virolle, aged twenty-five, hairdresser: all convicted for writing, guillotined.
 
Geneviève Gouvon, aged seventy-seven, seamstress, convicted of "various conspiracies since the beginning of the Revolution," guillotined.
 
Francis Bertrand, aged thirty-seven, convicted of producing "sour wine injurious to the health of citizens," guillotined.
 
Mary Angelica Plaisant, another seamstress, guillotined for exclaiming, "A fig for the nation!"
 
Relaxing into his holiday, Croker continued reading through the long list of dubious charges against the several thousand victims of the Revolutionary Tribunal of Paris, from its institution on 10 March 1793 until the fall of Maximilien Robespierre on 27 July 1794. He compiled some grimly fascinating statistics: in the last five months of Robespierre's life, when he supposedly secured tyrannous power over France and the Revolution, 2,217 people were guillotined in Paris; but the total condemned to death in the eleven months preceding Robespierre's Reign of Terror was only 399. On the basis of these statistics, Croker concluded that the executions "grew gradually with the personal influence of Robespierre, and became enormous in proportion as he successively extinguished his rivals."3 In awed horror he recalled, "These things happened in our time--thousands are still living who saw them, yet it seems almost incredible that batches (fournées--such was the familiar phrase)--of sixty victims should be condemned in one morning by the same tribunal, and executed the same afternoon on the same scaffold."
 
Although Peel pressed his friend to write a popular and accessible book about the French Revolution, Croker never did so. When he got back from his holiday in 1835 he published his seaside musings in an article for the Quarterly Review. Here he acknowledged the enormity of the problem Robespierre still poses biographers: "The blood-red mist by which his last years were enveloped magnified his form, but obscured his features. Like the Genius of the Arabian tale, he emerged suddenly from a petty space into enormous power and gigantic size, and as suddenly vanished, leaving behind him no trace but terror."4
 
Copyright © 2006 by Ruth Scurr

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

  • PublisherHolt Paperbacks
  • Publication date2007
  • ISBN 10 0805082611
  • ISBN 13 9780805082616
  • BindingPaperback
  • LanguageEnglish
  • Edition number1
  • Number of pages448
  • Rating
    • 3.91 out of 5 stars
      1,333 ratings by Goodreads

Buy Used

Condition: As New
Like new inside and out; printed... View this item

Shipping: US$ 4.99
Within U.S.A.

Destination, rates & speeds

Add to basket

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

Search results for Fatal Purity: Robespierre and the French Revolution

Seller Image

Scurr, Ruth
ISBN 10: 0805082611 ISBN 13: 9780805082616
Used Soft cover

Seller: HOWLGLEN, Seven Valleys, PA, U.S.A.

Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars 5-star rating, Learn more about seller ratings

Soft cover. Condition: As New. Like new inside and out; printed at Middletown, DE, 07 November 2024. Seller Inventory # ABE-1734097675554

Contact seller

Buy Used

US$ 6.79
Convert currency
Shipping: US$ 4.99
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds

Quantity: 1 available

Add to basket

Stock Image

Scurr, Ruth
Published by Holt Paperbacks, 2007
ISBN 10: 0805082611 ISBN 13: 9780805082616
Used Paperback

Seller: HPB Inc., Dallas, TX, U.S.A.

Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars 5-star rating, Learn more about seller ratings

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority! Seller Inventory # S_421044026

Contact seller

Buy Used

US$ 9.86
Convert currency
Shipping: US$ 3.75
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds

Quantity: 1 available

Add to basket

Seller Image

Scurr, Ruth
Published by Holt Paperbacks, 2007
ISBN 10: 0805082611 ISBN 13: 9780805082616
Used Softcover

Seller: GreatBookPrices, Columbia, MD, U.S.A.

Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars 5-star rating, Learn more about seller ratings

Condition: good. May show signs of wear, highlighting, writing, and previous use. This item may be a former library book with typical markings. No guarantee on products that contain supplements Your satisfaction is 100% guaranteed. Twenty-five year bookseller with shipments to over fifty million happy customers. Seller Inventory # 4375191-5

Contact seller

Buy Used

US$ 11.20
Convert currency
Shipping: US$ 2.64
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds

Quantity: 6 available

Add to basket

Stock Image

Scurr, Ruth
Published by Holt Paperbacks, 2007
ISBN 10: 0805082611 ISBN 13: 9780805082616
Used Softcover

Seller: Goodwill Books, Hillsboro, OR, U.S.A.

Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars 5-star rating, Learn more about seller ratings

Condition: Good. Signs of wear and consistent use. Seller Inventory # 3IIT03005G8Y_ns

Contact seller

Buy Used

US$ 9.86
Convert currency
Shipping: US$ 3.99
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds

Quantity: 1 available

Add to basket

Stock Image

Scurr, Ruth
Published by Holt Paperbacks, 2007
ISBN 10: 0805082611 ISBN 13: 9780805082616
Used paperback First Edition

Seller: Textbooks_Source, Columbia, MO, U.S.A.

Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars 5-star rating, Learn more about seller ratings

paperback. Condition: Good. First Edition. Ships in a BOX from Central Missouri! May not include working access code. Will not include dust jacket. Has used sticker(s) and some writing or highlighting. UPS shipping for most packages, (Priority Mail for AK/HI/APO/PO Boxes). Seller Inventory # 000818946U

Contact seller

Buy Used

US$ 9.95
Convert currency
Shipping: US$ 3.99
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds

Quantity: 17 available

Add to basket

Stock Image

Ruth Scurr
Published by Holt Paperbacks April 2007, 2007
ISBN 10: 0805082611 ISBN 13: 9780805082616
Used Trade Paperback

Seller: A Cappella Books, Inc., Atlanta, GA, U.S.A.

Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars 5-star rating, Learn more about seller ratings

Trade Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Seller Inventory # 298557

Contact seller

Buy Used

US$ 15.00
Convert currency
Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds

Quantity: 1 available

Add to basket

Stock Image

Ruth Scurr
Published by Holt Paperbacks April 2007, 2007
ISBN 10: 0805082611 ISBN 13: 9780805082616
Used Trade Paperback

Seller: Kona Bay Books, Kailua-Kona, HI, U.S.A.

Seller rating 4 out of 5 stars 4-star rating, Learn more about seller ratings

Trade Paperback. Condition: Used - Good. Seller Inventory # 74867

Contact seller

Buy Used

US$ 10.80
Convert currency
Shipping: US$ 4.80
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds

Quantity: 1 available

Add to basket

Stock Image

Scurr, Ruth
Published by Holt Paperbacks, 2007
ISBN 10: 0805082611 ISBN 13: 9780805082616
Used Paperback

Seller: Pink Casa Antiques, Frankfort, KY, U.S.A.

Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars 5-star rating, Learn more about seller ratings

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. tight, uncreased spine, pages clear and bright, shelf and edge wear, cover curl, corners bumped, packaged in cardboard box for shipment, tracking on U.S. orders. Seller Inventory # 95685

Contact seller

Buy Used

US$ 12.99
Convert currency
Shipping: US$ 4.99
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds

Quantity: 1 available

Add to basket

Seller Image

Scurr, Ruth
Published by Holt Paperbacks, 2007
ISBN 10: 0805082611 ISBN 13: 9780805082616
New Softcover

Seller: GreatBookPrices, Columbia, MD, U.S.A.

Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars 5-star rating, Learn more about seller ratings

Condition: New. Seller Inventory # 4375191-n

Contact seller

Buy New

US$ 16.67
Convert currency
Shipping: US$ 2.64
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds

Quantity: Over 20 available

Add to basket

Seller Image

Scurr, Ruth
Published by Owl Books (NY) 9/5/2000, 2000
ISBN 10: 0805082611 ISBN 13: 9780805082616
New Paperback or Softback

Seller: BargainBookStores, Grand Rapids, MI, U.S.A.

Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars 5-star rating, Learn more about seller ratings

Paperback or Softback. Condition: New. Fatal Purity: Robespierre and the French Revolution 1.15. Book. Seller Inventory # BBS-9780805082616

Contact seller

Buy New

US$ 19.32
Convert currency
Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds

Quantity: 5 available

Add to basket

There are 19 more copies of this book

View all search results for this book