Twelve Who Ruled: The Year of the Terror in the French Revolution [Hardcover]

R. R. Palmer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1941

This modern classic is being reissued in recognition of the bicentennial of the French Revolution. From a review of an earlier edition: "This is wholly an admirable book: it is based upon all the most recent researches and itself makes some original contributions to scholarship; it is written in a bright popular style and deserves as warm a welcome from the general reader as from the historian."--A.J.P. Taylor, Manchester Guardian

Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for Princeton's original edition: "[E]xcellently documented. . . . [O]ne of the best pictures that has ever been put together of the twelve men who made up [the] Committee of Public Safety. . . . There is fine scholarship here. -- New York Times



Praise for Princeton's original edition: "[A]n excellent book on the administration of France by the great Committee of Public Safety. . . . [Palmer] has made the members of the Committee living characters and the events of the period real occurrences. -- American Political Science Review
--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

R. R. Palmer (1909-2002) was Professor of History Emeritus at Yale University and a guest scholar at the Institute for Advanced Study. Isser Woloch is Moore Collegiate Professor of History at Columbia University. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: Princeton Univ Pr; 1958 ptg edition (June 1941)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691051194
• ISBN-13: 978-0691051192
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,239,714 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent history, well written, interesting, a focus on character., January 20, 2006

By 

C. B Collins Jr. (Atlanta, GA United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Twelve Who Ruled (Paperback)

This is an excellent book, well written, clear and concise. It focuses on the Year of the Terror during the French Revolution.

There are several strengths to this book.

First, Palmer does an excellent job of giving short biographies of the major characters that ruled France as a committee during this period. They include Carnot,the military officer who maintained the war office during the terror,including defending the northern border of France. Collot D'Herbois, the ex-actor and fanatic had a very different temprement from the monk-like Robespierre. Saint-Just's attacks against the Dantonists was fascinating. The fall of Herault de Sechelles, the philosopher former aristocrat is very interesting.

Second, the chapters are very well organized. They are aranged around topics, including a hyistory of how the Comitteee for Public Safety evolved in the fifth year of the revolution; three chapters on maintaining control of the other regions of France during the revolution; chapters on foreign conflicts; a chapter on wage and price control and maintaining a central economy, are all well written and interesting.

I read the book after reading Hilary Mantel's novel "A Place of Greater Safety" regarding the relationship and competition between Robespierre and Danton. The two books perfectly compliment each other.


This is a very accessible history of this portion of the revolution and is extremely informative. It was written in 1941 but is fresh, current, and alive with detail.

30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unbiased and entertaining account of the Terror, October 23, 2000

By 

Elizabeth N. - See all my reviews

This review is from: Twelve Who Ruled (Paperback)

Unlike many books written on the Reign of Terror, "Twelve Who Ruled" takes a refreshingly unbiased, as well as entertaining, view of all angles and opinions. This book's primary focus is on the Committee of Public Safety, a major governing body of France during the Terror. Detailed descriptions of the Committee's twelve members are helpful in determining the causes of the Terror, as well as the motives behind them. The author also provides several interesting and detailed descriptions of the wars in and around France, and how they directly affected the citizens and the government. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the French Revolution.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful Book about a Little Understood Time, February 1, 2003

By 

Adam Shah (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Twelve Who Ruled (Paperback)

In my college Western Civilization course years ago, we read a speech Robespierre gave during a festival created by the revolutionary government. After discussing this speech for a while, we passed on to Napoleon, but before we did, one student asked the professor for recommendations for further reading on the Reign of Terror. He mentioned Twelve Who Ruled. I didn't run out and buy the book, but I did keep in the back of my mind, and whenever I browsed the history shelves of a bookstore or library, I kept an eye out for it. Several years later, I ran across the book and, after reading it, I am quite glad that I did.

The Reign of Terror is, of course, a fascinating period of history that usually gets short shrift in high school or college classes. One hears of guillotines and revolutionaries run wild, killing each other for not being radical enough. This book fleshes out the story and dispels some myths about it.

Robespierre was a member of the Committee on Public Safety, a legislative committee that was part of the National Assembly, France's short-lived revolutionary parliament set up in the 1790s. The Committee consisted of twelve people, hence the title of the book: "The Twelve Who Ruled."

Palmer describes how the Committee functions and gives a very plausible explanation for the reasons behind Robespierre's and his fellow committee members' actions. Given the nature of the period, it is no surprise that the book is not boring. But Palmer did not sacrifice academic rigor for readability.

I recommend this book for anyone interested in history or political science.