Customer Reviews

Danton

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Danton", written in 1978 by Norman Hampson, is one of only a handful of English-language books dedicated to French revolutionary George-Jacques Danton. Danton's short, energetic career in politics made its mark on the French Revolution, but, looking back from two centuries hence, he is notably the first professional politician. Danton knew the difference between rhetoric and policy. He knew how to win public opinion with radical speeches while pursuing more practical and moderate goals in private. He also knew how to obscure his motives to such an extent that any discussion of the man is dominated by disputes over what he actually believed, if anything, and what he did or did not do.

Born to a middle class family in Arcis-sur-Aube, Danton studied law in Paris and, after purchasing the office of Conseil du Roi, made an unremarkable career of it. He took up the revolutionary cause in 1789. Danton rose to command the political machine of Cordeliers, named for the District in which he resided, with its concentration of radical press. Hampson presents a blow-by-blow account of the offices that Danton held, the crises in which he participated, and attempts to get a handle on what politics Danton might have actually held until his trial and execution in 1794. Like so many people vying for position in the new government and fighting for their vision of France, Danton died at the hands of his own revolution.

Hampson's account is bare-bones and usually dry. It is intended for serious students of the French Revolution in that prior knowledge of the institutions, factions, and personalities of the Revolution is required. Hampson provides very little context for Danton's actions, and the narrative is difficult to follow without a background in the complex politics of the revolutionary government. Hampson does not label Danton either as a slick opportunist or an idealist. The differing views of other historians are often mentioned, and Hampson presents evidence of Danton's motives where it exists, but he strives to be even-handed. Although I don't think "Danton" stands well on its own, its cautious approach makes it a good companion or counterpoint to David Lawday's more laudatory, and more readable, biography The Giant of the French Revolution: Danton, A Life.