This book, in compelling narrative, makes is clear that the French Revolution actually began not with the clamor of the common people but with the blue-blooded aristocracy and the high clergy of the ancien régime who had been enamored with the writings of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and the views of the enlightenment (i.e., convincingly demonstrated in […]
Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution by Simon Schama Read More »
This would have been one among the books Maximilien Robespierre would have chosen as an acceptable biography of himself, according him his rightful place in history. It is disturbing that so many readers of this book expressing their views in Amazon.com praise this idealized biography, once again reinterpreting the career of the authoritarian despot, who
The Revolutionary Career of Maximilien Robespierre by David P. Jordan Read More »
This biography of Robespierre, The Incorruptible, reads like a spellbinding novel, only that this book recounts more than the life of Robespierre. It graphically describes the horrors of the French Revolution and gives us vivid descriptions of all of the main participants in that orgy of blood, horror and death. It begins with the notorious
Robespierre: The Fool as Revolutionary by Otto Scott Read More »
Praised by Napoleon as “the worthiest man I ever met,” Dominique-Jean Larrey (1766-1842), his legendary surgeon, was born in Beaudean, a little village in the Pyrenees. Orphaned at age 13, he was raised by his uncle, Alexis, who was chief surgeon at Toulouse. After studying and serving as his surgical apprentice for 6 years, Larrey
Dominique-Jean Larrey: Napoleon’s Surgeon from Egypt to Waterloo Read More »
