Customer Reviews

Fatal Purity: Robespierre and the French Revolution

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"That man will go far. He believes what he says."

It was Mirabeau, an astute politician in his own right, who recognized that Robespierre, when others regarded him as a "self righteous and hypocritical prig," was not what he first appeared to be.

Scurr does a remarkable job of uncovering those qualities which led to Robespierre's rise to power and of explaining the features of his personality which made his name virtually synonymous with bloodthirsty tyranny.

Lacking even a smidgen of charisma, a poor speaker, and paranoid even when he was still an obscure attorney in the provincial town of Arras, the young representative to the national Convention showed little evidence of ever achieving either fame or infamy. With the outbreak of the revolution, he had managed to get himself elected to the Convention, and from then on he perfected his political skills. Extemporaneous speeches were replaced by long and carefully prepared written ones. New allies were found and cultivated. He quickly surrounded himself with sycophants. Above everything else, he exuded patriotism.

But underlying it all was paranoia--the conviction that enemies of the state were hidden in every crack and crevice, that those enemies (in many instances the newspapers which didn't share his views) were selectively threatening him because of his loyalty to the new French Republic. To that was added his own reluctance to ever admit mistakes, doing so only by blaming others for having deceived him, for having given him false information. His answers were always the same. If a remedy failed, then increase the dosage. If the deaths of a dozen "enemies" (including many of his rivals) were replaced by two dozen more live ones, then two dozen deaths were the answer. If those did not suffice, then another escalation would be in order.

Only when his madness became so obvious that the members of his own party (the Jacobins) begin to feel threatened did the rising star fall from its zenith.

In the tradition of all honest biographers, Scurr presents both the good and evil aspects of her subject's personality. He was indeed a man moved by his principles, but sometimes he moved the principles to suit. Scurr insists that he justly earned the sobriquet of "incorruptible," but one can become corrupted by other than money. With Robespierre, power was the ingredient. His overweening quest for it, his absolute certainty that he was always in the right, his utter conviction that any who opposed him were enemies of the state and, finally, his paranoia--which virtually guaranteed that the power he achieved would be used in the most mindless fashion--corrupted him completely.

For anyone curious about this creature who emerged in the turbulent days of the French Revolution and went on to become synonymous with The Terror, this is a first-rate place for satisfying that curiosity.

I was surprised to read in the very first review for the book "Fatal Purity: Robespierre and the French Revolution" (on Amazon's webpage for that particular book), under the banner of "No longer the Incorruptible", a scathing attack on the character of Maximilien de Robespierre. The author of that review went beyond thrashing Robespierre's character into, what I believe it is, an effort to belittle Robespierre's crucial contributions to the French Revolution and the enduring and important message that that event (the French Revolution) evokes on all the persons that read about it.

First of all, I remember that Ms Scurr took the pain to stress that the book was not meant to absolve nor condemn Robespierre. After finishing the book, I can attest that she was quite successful at being even handed and fair. The author of that review, although entitled to his opinion, left the impression (at least on me)that Robespierre, somehow, while embodying all that is evil and, while being utterly devoid of any leadership skills, rose to be the "top man" at the helm of the French Revolution. The story depicted in the book is quite different from what was written, and omitted, in that review.

Now, going into the merits of the book, I have to say that it is never dull, it is concise, clear, learned, even enthralling. Judging by this, Ms Scurr's first literary effort, I can foresee the birth of a star. Ruth Scurr is a product of both Oxford and Cambridge. Buying and reading this book is money well invested.

How easy it is to look at Maximilien Robespierre and see nothing but a monster, a mass-murderer, whose fate was well-deserved, though it perhaps came too late.

Yet there is a side to Robespierre that is usually overlooked: his human side, the Robespierre before the Revolution, the Robespierre who was, arguably, as much a victim of the Revolution as those for whose deaths he was responsible.

Ruth Scurr unravels the layers of this most fascinating of men, revealing the human being within. She discovers a man of great complexity: a man who did not believe in capital punishment, yet who spilled the blood of many. He was warm and kind to those he befriended, yet he sent his closest friends to the guillotine. He was a man who believed in justice, free speech and the rights of humankind, yet he denied these very rights to those who opposed him. He dared to preserve some spiritual influence in a country where Christianity had been banned. Known as the Incorruptible, he became everything he hated. Fatal Purity is perfectly complementary to previous studies of Robespierre, and could easily be read in conjunction with Hampson's fine book, for instance.

Dr Scurr's book is thoroughly researched and beautifully written. A real page-turner, I was sorry when it ended. I heartily recommend this book to anyone interested in Robespierre, and the study of how a shy, awkward, literary and sensitive man could turn into so bloody and brutal a figure, whose name became synonymous with the Terror.

Most biographers either fall in love with their subject or villify them to the extreme. Ruth Schurr in this wonderfully crafted biography falls into neither trap. She lays out the history of this remarkable man and his role in the French revolution and lets the reader decide whether he was truly "incorruptible" or simply a bloodthirsty opportunist. In doing so, she presents a fascinating portrait of a man who changed the history of France and, in many ways, the world.

This is not an overly erudite or scholarly study of the man. Much in this book contains educated speculation, but the author doesn't feign to present it as anything more. It is an eminently readable account of the history of this period from the Revolutionary perspective. The writing style is engrossing and reads like a suspense novel with twist and turns as Maximillian one-by-one turns on his friends and enemies alike. I can't recommend this more highly and it is a good counterpoise to a book like "Road to Versailles" by Munro Price, which presents the royalist perspective.

A great initial offering from Ruth Scurr. I can't wait to get her next book.

Fatal Purity is very well written. The story of Robespierre from his childhood through his short corrupt attempt to dominate France is full of fascinating detail written in a manner that maintained interest through its entirety. I was left with a significant dislike for this small town lawyer who set himself up as incorruptible while manipulating his way to the top of a violent power struggle to control France. If you've ever wanted to delve beyond college European history into the life of this complex character you will not be disappointed by Fatal Purity.

This is the best book on Robespierre. It is amazing that such a peaceful man became one of the most tyrannical leaders in history. This book explains why he became who he was. If you want to learn about him, you will like this book.

A well researched and well written book on the life of Maximilien Robespierre. Considering the limited amount of information available on the subject, I found this book to be rather informative and not just another recycled version of an older book. Ruth Scurr delves into the conflicted mind of Robespierre and examines the French revolutionary's descent from man of the people to murderous tyrant. An excellent look at one of history's most misunderstood, yet fearful, figures. A fine example to anyone interested in understanding the value of using terror tactics in supplanting dictatorial rule.

This book is an highly readable history which makes the sequence of events (which can seem convoluted in other accounts) of the French Revolution easily understandable (understandable in that we can see why the National Assembly and its constitutional monarchy failed, which was then succeeded by the Convention, which was where Robespierre eventually gained control both as President of the Convention and as the most influential member of the Committee of Public Safety, which was formed by the Convention).

Hard to understand a man (Robespierre) so committed to his ideal of defense of the Revolution and the purity he thought it should embody that he'd send old friends (Danton, Desmoulins), with whom he mostly agreed on things, to the scaffold. Cannot understand it from the point of view of being a human being. The book does provide explanation of Robespierre's thinking, so that's as close as humanity/Robespierre we can link.

Thank you, Ruth Scurr (the author).

This is an excellent biography of Robespierre that really gives the reader an inside look at the French Revolution. The style of writing is very easy to read and personal so the reader feels like they are present at the events. I would recommend having at least a cursory knowledge for the revolution before reading this as she does assume some knowledge for events that Robespierre is not directly involved with. The biggest drawback to the book and the main reason for the four stars is that it is very pro-Robespierre and this comes from a reliance on his sisters journal (Catharine) as a primary source. Some further work which would have been done had this been an academic book would have been better. Nonetheless it is comprehensive and well done. The analysis of the terror is very unique and the bloodletting that so many focus on is explained very well here. This is a great start to understanding Robespierre and despite the fawning praise it is well worth the read.

I was not going to write about this book, but have decided to do so after reading some of the other reviews. This book is a biography, and tells of Robespierre from the beginning of his life to its end. It does not begin with the King's flight to Varennes, as implied by one reviewer. I found the writing clear and easy to read, not boring. I have never admired Robespierre and this book did not change my opinion of him, even though it is even-handed and tells what good things can be said of him. I don't know of a better modern biography of him and I have no hesitancy in giving this book five stars.