Fatal Purity: Robespierre and the French Revolution

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.

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.

"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.

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.

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.