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Fatal Purity: Robespierre and the French Revolution
by: Ruth Scurr

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Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours Binding: Paperback
EAN: 9780099458982
ISBN: 0099458985
Label: Vintage
Manufacturer: Vintage
Number Of Pages: 400
Publication Date: April 05, 2007
Publisher: Vintage
Studio: Vintage
Sales Rank: 14962

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Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- Historical Biography as it should be

One of the most insightful biographies I have ever read.The Author gets into the mind of Robespierre and takes us to the eye of the storm that surrounded him.

Where I would differ from other reviewers,is that I feel the Author paints a far from flattering picture of her subject.My take is that she portrays Robespierre as a zealous, self-rightious fanatic motivated by idealogical "purity" and unable to see others as human beings, as individuals with aspirations and ambitions which might be just as valid as his own, and with which he would have to compromise.

The image of Robespierre which emerges is a rather chilling one of a man who saw people as mere specimens on which to practice his social experiments ... Read More:

Rating:

- Well written and tragic
A well written and fascinating account of the life and career of this most famous and infamous of French revolutionaries. Robespierre is a fascinating man of contrasts. For much of his life, certainly before the Revolution and for a couple of years after the fall of the Bastille, his positive points predominate - a passion for justice and for the plight of the poor, as shown by his advocacy of the poor in many court cases when he was a simple lawyer in Arras, and by many of his speeches afterwards; and his radical and uncompromising democracy, an advanced phenomenon in the 18th century. It is only really from 1792, the fall of the monarchy and the suspension of the 1793 constitution before it ever came into effect, that we see the awful side ... Read More:

Rating:

- Fatally flawed
This is a classic example of revisionist history. The common perception of Robespierre is of a power hungry monster prepared to have anyone who stood in his way sent to the guillotine. This isn't entirely accurate - he actually opposed many of the early calls for a campaign of terror - but then again the common perception has not been a credible one for a long time. As pointed out by William Doyle, quite possibly the most highly regarded English speaking historian of the French Revolution, Robespierre was not always a monster. What's not in doubt either amongst respected historians is that he definitely did become a monster.

Scurr tries to show the "real" Robespierre mostly through his speeches, ignoring the fact that these were carefully ... Read More:

Rating:

- Fatal purity? How about vicious psychopath!
This book suggests that Robespierre's only crime was trying to help too much.

We have no window into Robespierre's mind, so perhaps if we knew only his words there might be some minute probability that his crime was to be too virtuous. But, of course we have far more than words: we have his behavior over an extended period in total power: From what he did, we see that Robespierre was an ideological tyrant, presaging Himmler in the efficient construction of a machinery for murder - ultimately killing tens of thousands of innocent people.

Think about it: Literally week-long, round-the-clock sessions of blood-letting, thousands butchered in scenes that beggar belief, inspired and capitalised upon by Robespierre. Installed as dictator, ... Read More:

Rating:

- Brilliant, a new insight, and absolutely unputdownable
This is a fantastic achievement, and really readable with it. The French Revolution is one of those events which is difficult for the modern mind to get fully to grips with - reasonably straightforward perhaps until about 1791 and then increasingly foggy until 1794. The haziness largely centres on Robespierre, because he is difficult for us, in a (post-Marxian) world in which we think through political formulae, really to get to grips with. As he moves increasingly centre-stage it is important to understand what he is after, and why the revolution sways chaotically around him. Ruth Scurr really gets to the heart of Maximilian Robespierre (the "Incorruptible", as she continually describes him), and translates him into modern form. This is a highly sympathetic history, ... Read More:

Books : Fatal Purity: Robespierre and the French Revolution