It's good as an introduction, because most biographies assume you already have a detailed knowledge of the revolution and a university library to look up all references! So it is probably better as an introduction than, for example, Jordan's book, which was the last English Language biography of Robespierre to come out, back in the 1980's (and was the one I read as a teenager) - Jordan is very detailed on Robespierre's writings and speeches but covers the first 30 years of his life in about 2 pages (!), and barely mentions Danton, Desmoulins etc. , whereas Ruth Scurr spends a lot of time on the personal information and background - though she does tend to run with ideas for which there's no historical proof (like the story about the mistress). Have you read Hilary Mantel's 'A Place of Greater Safety'? It's historical fiction but I think it's excellent (though her portrayal of the Duplays is a bit mean!) and is in print so should be easy to get hold of -it's also about as long as 'War and Peace'!
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timeasmymeasure
Re: 0_0
Date: 2008-07-18 10:16 am (UTC)Have you read Hilary Mantel's 'A Place of Greater Safety'? It's historical fiction but I think it's excellent (though her portrayal of the Duplays is a bit mean!) and is in print so should be easy to get hold of -it's also about as long as 'War and Peace'!