Customer Reviews

Paris in the Terror

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

This book is very entertaining, interesting, and is written with a tasteful style. I suppose that if one concentrates on merely deconstructing books instead of appreciating them as prose works, one would tend to be hypercritical here, as the book does take some historiocitical liberties. Yet, as a professor of Comparative Literature, I have yet to find a works on the French Revolution that my students read with so much interest and enthusiasm as we have here. Perhaps it is the personable nature of his writing style, or his focus on characters and personality more than objective history, but in the final consensus this is truly a masterpiece. I am a bit amazed at negative reviews of this book. I ask these people, could you write better? If so, try it! Then you will find that it is far easier to criticize than it is to complete a works as entertaining as this! Highly recommended! Bravo Loomis!

It's been perhaps 25 years since I first read "Paris in the Terror". I found it gripping and revelatory: it certainly caused me to make a fresh assessment of the 'revolutionary' movements of the Sixties (of which I was a part), and I read it a number of times before it moved on. As a cautionary tale on the uncertain fruits of good intentions, it is priceless - and it's a ripping yarn, to boot. Is it 'reputable' history? How would I know?

Certainly, there seems to be some hostility toward Loomis' focus on the human element in creating & sustaining the Reign of Terror, though the reasons for this are obscure at best. It could be as simple as this: in focusing on the role of human nature in human events, Loomis fails to genuflect before the altar of pop-socialist "realismus", preferring to view history not as a Titanic clash of impersonal forces but as the interlocking sum of the individual passions, choices, and shortcomings of real people struggling with real dilemmas.

No-one should be surprised that this approach finds no favor with the professional academics of today, whose priority is the maintenance of their paychecks & their access to nubile females. Professional academic history basically occupies two camps: the "orthodox" view of the French Revolution holds substantially to the pop-socialist view of vast socio-economic forces sweeping away the oppressive debris of feudalism - and in the best Red-Guard tradition, views the excesses of the Terror as a regrettable side-effect of a healthy process of social evolution; the "revisionist" view (as seen by the "orthodox" camp) contends that - given the excesses of revolutionary zeal - the 'Ancien Regime' was the lesser evil.

Loomis, IMO, thinks for himself, and carves a middle way through the middens, and comes to the conclusion that good intentions are not sufficient to avoid the descent into hell. In the polarised post-9/11 atmosphere, this is a cautionary tale we sorely need. Consequently, real people could gain real profit from reading this book. And if the reader must read between the lines, well, that's the point of education, isn't it?

I don't pretend to be a "scholar", since I'm still breathing, and I certainly don't buy into the myth of objectivity; however, I am intelligent, well-read, widely experienced, and I have no partisan axe to grind. As I said above, my comments on "Paris in the Terror" are based on my recollection of multiple readings many years ago. I got here by way of wanting to find a copy so I can read it again. I think it's a shame this very thought-provoking book is out of print.

I am not sure why this book has generated the hostility and negative sandblasting of its content. It is a highly readable book and seems to me to get closer to the truth of what was actually going on than some over-anecdoted meander that has no point of view and presents nothing as cogent food for thought. Here's an idea for all would be critcs, read another book on the same subject and see if it even comes close to evoking the sounds of smells of revolutionary France as this one does. This work does an excellent job at describing the heated passions of the day and the altruistic hopes of the revolutionists. Yes, Loomis has prejudices, but they are enjoyable to read from an author who cares about his subject deeply. Much better than some dry, withered academic prose which comes nowhere near to having one truly experience the passions and grandeur of the event.

When a reader -like me- that only recently has read the works by Loomis gets the info that he died days before his 50 birthday, hit by a car in Paris, you feel like you have lost a friend or someone that could have been one or at the very least a guy that in other circunstance could have given to you lot more intelectual pleasure; so you consider a very big shame that things went along that sad path as they did.
Respect his work, I have no doubts that Loomis went very often beyond what hard data admits, but being history facts what they are, objets that are not anymore, at most as documents which we cannot ascertain as truly correct, a degree of guessing and intuition is "the rigueur" if you are going to deliver something with sense. So, attacks againts him, Loomis, on the ground of scholarly reasons, seems to me mean, narrow and out of target. You does not understand or have a vision of a period just because you piled all the hard data, but only if the historian is capable of getting that extra drop of essence of even one data that is the key of men and circunstances.
Loomis did that very well and with an elegance that by itself is more than enough to legitimate his work. "Paris in the Terror" is a magnificent proof of all that.

The reader could say that this compelling tome about the breathtaking events of the French Revolution during the Reign of Terror really comprises three books in one --- three human conflict stories carefully webbed into the sinister tapestry of the French Revolution, particularly during the Reign of Terror (June 1793 to July 1794).

This sanguinary period takes us through the assassination of Jean Paul Marat, the rapid rise and fall of the Girondins, the use in full of the killing power of the guillotine by the dictates of the Revolutionary Tribunals and, ultimately, the ascendancy of the most radical Jacobins and Maximilien Robespierre, the Incorruptible.

The first part of this tome explains the events in Charlotte Corday's life, her innermost thoughts and reflections, her courage and the patriotic sentiments that consumed her and gave her strength to plan and carry out the assassination of the radical, blood-thirsty Marat, right in the belly of the beast at his residence at 30 Rue des Cordeliers on July 13, 1793! Marat had already expulsed the brave Girondin leaders from the National Convention (June 2), and he was now finalizing his plans for their arrest and grisly trip to the guillotine at the Place de la Révolution. His direct participation in the bloody conspiracy was cut short by Corday. However, his demise only served to fuel the fire of the gathering conflagration.

The second part deals with the conflict between the Girondins led by Madame Roland and Georges Danton, followed by the struggle for power between Danton and Robespierre. The Girondins, divided, remained oblivious to the mortal threat of Robespierre; they were young patriots and idealists, not conniving politicians or statesmen. As a party, they failed to recognize the need, or rather the necessity, for them to forge an alliance with Danton, not just to win politically against the treacherous Robespierre, but for their very own survival.

The third part deals with the complete takeover by Robespierre, St. Just (also Saint Just) and Couthon of the Committee of Public Safety and the Revolutionary Tribunals of state prosecutor, Fouquier-Tinville. By then, the Convention had been wheedled or extorted to give up much of its power.

By the spring of 1794, the valiant Girondins, Danton, and his friends Camille and Lucile Desmoulins, and even the sanguinary Hébert --- had all been guillotined. The right side of the Convention stood empty; the center, "the Plain," remained silent, cowed and stupefied; even the radical Jacobins on the left, the Montagnards, feared for their lives. The far ends of the political spectrum, like an excessively bent horseshoe, representing the extremes of anarchy (right) and tyranny (left), became separated by a narrow gap, that of anarcho-tyranny that agent provocateurs, immorality, and chaos had bridged with the establishment of Robespierre's stern dictatorship.

As the Deputies trembled in fear, and Paris becomes deserted and terrorized, one man relatively unknown in history senses his own life is in danger. He exhorts and finally convinces his fellow deputies they must act together decisively and swiftly, if they are to save their lives and end the Terror.

They did so on 9 Thermidor (July 27). The rallying figure is relatively obscure in history, although the details of his life are well known. He conspired and bred intrigue in the shadows. To find out the engrossing details of the denouement of this dramatic final clash prompted by a few desperate men, you must read this riveting book. Once you begin reading it, you will have difficulty putting it down.

Although this book is not presently available, if you are interested in the Reign of Terror of the French Revolution, you should check periodically with Amazon.com in case this spellbinding book is reprinted or a providential copy becomes available.

Miguel A. Faria, Jr., M.D. is Editor-in-Chief of the Medical Sentinel of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS), and author of Vandals at the Gates of Medicine (1995) and Medical Warrior: Fighting Corporate Socialized Medicine (1997).

While well written and entertaining, readers should be warned that this book is more fiction than fact. Historically, Loomis only relies on inaccurate Thermidorian sources written by individuals anxious to exonerate themselves and blame all evils of the revolution on Robespierre and the Jacobians. He also continually distorts, invents and rearranges facts. If you want to learn about the actual events, there are many accurate sources by legitimate historians such as David P. Jordan, Norman Hampson, J.M. Thompson and R.R. Palmer. Then you will be reading genuine history, not the twisted fantasies of someone posing as an historian.

I enjoyed reading this book. History is often how it is interpreted, and which evidence one chooses to present. Just because Loomis doesn't stick to the mainstream view of the Revolution, that doesn't necessarily discount his "version", if I may inocuously use the word. Mesdames, Monsieurs, my dear friends, it is precisly this alternative study of the subject which makes Loomis' works so unique. If you want controlled interpretations, perhaps you should move to North Korea, or someplace where they make sure you only see things, and history, one way (like it was in America until just recently). 5 stars is extreme, as five stars should be reserved for the Balzacs and Shelleys, yet one star is hardly fair. Ever tried to write a book? Please do so, and then maybe you will ban one stars from your vocabulary. It is very easy to sit back and criticize other people who actively produce. I recommend to everyone who may be interested in the French Revolution to buy and read this book, and think about it for yourselves. And Mr. Loomis, if you are out there somewhere, I just want you to know that I think your work is magnificent and I appreciate your hard work and research. And for all of you who rightly question Loomis' research and authority, please read also "The Fatal Friendship" as a work which proves his shrewdness in historical detail, and puts the matter to rest... in the stars.

This book must be among the best written, descriptive, and thorough histories out there! I am surely no expert on the French Revolution, but this book seems to confirm my prior limited knowledge of the subject. Mr. Loomis is a fine writer who not only evaluates the (mostly horrible) events, but also the personalities and backgrounds. The beginning section about Charlette Corday and the assasination of Marat was flawless, the section on Danton perhaps not quite as good, and the grand finale on Robespierre near perfect! In short, this book covers the year of the Paris Great Terror (1793-4) superbly! There is even some wry humor for good measure to offset some truly sickening episodes of man's inhumanity towards his fellow man. In short, as close to perfect as one can expect!

Motivated by "patriotic or altruistic impulses," the major players of the Terror valued their ideals above life. IN either taking lives or sacrificing their own, Characters such as Marat, Robespierre, Danton, and Charlotte Corday each contributed to the bloody reign of Terror.
Although written after much research, Loomis' work appeals to the scholar and the layperson alike. Loomis's style is pleasant and his words read like fiction. Through vivid description Loomis recreates the sights, sounds, and emotions of the Terror in the mind of the reader.
Loomis divides the Terror into three sections: the death of Marat, the trial of Danton, and the fall of Robespierre. In part one the reader learns about Marat as well as his executioner, Charlotte Corday. Part two tells the tale of strategic politics and a friendship betrayed. The reader sees the demise of one of the most powerful men in France in part three.
The story is broken up at many points as Loomis enlightens the reader about the history of the characters. This tends to disturb the flow of the story, but the author gives the reader excellent information and never fails to complete a story. Loomis' style allows the reader to possess critical knowledge pertaining to the motivations and the intentions of the characters.
While providing extensive background information and eloquent prose, Loomis also gives insight into the personalities of the figures in the Terror. By providing background Loomis allows the reader to infer motivations and feelings. Looking at diaries, journals, and transcripts, the reader gets a clearer picture of characters through the eyes of contemporaries. Loomis draws emotion from the reader as he grows close to the players in the story of the Terror.
The most significant lesson Loomis teaches is that the characters in the Terror were ordinary people in extraordinary times. Each person features truly believed he or she was working for the benefit of France. Corday was saving France by killing Marat, Robespierre was cleansing the country, and even Madame Roland believed she could save the nation. Whatever the reader's preconceptions, after reading this book, he will better understand why the Terror happened.
The Terror swept through Paris and fears ran throughout France, leaving no one untouched. The major players of the Terror each believed he or she had the answers to save the country. While having good intentions, they each played a role in the reign of Terror.

Great reading. A very insightful and deliciously written account of the French Revolution. Stanley Loomis has made history entertaining and fun to read while maintaining a high-degree of literary style and insighful witticisms. I have to agree with David Keller, viz., how could one not like this book? What more do you want? This is it! Hurray Loomis!