Aside from the carefully selected quotes, there can also be the somewhat strangely translated quotes...
What interests me is how Robespierre is built into this omnipotent pillar of the Revolution when, in reality, his influence only stretched so far. It's certainly a way of sidestepping the complexities of the situation and, if you're writing for a general audience, it might increase the sales of your book, but there is something ironic about when his strong critics do this because, to create this image of Robespierre the Monolith, they generally gloss over the aspects of his political philosophy and personality that probably encouraged the aspects of his politics to which they object--parts of his character even more positive accounts of him seem to recognize as weak points.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2009-08-26 01:27 pm (UTC)What interests me is how Robespierre is built into this omnipotent pillar of the Revolution when, in reality, his influence only stretched so far. It's certainly a way of sidestepping the complexities of the situation and, if you're writing for a general audience, it might increase the sales of your book, but there is something ironic about when his strong critics do this because, to create this image of Robespierre the Monolith, they generally gloss over the aspects of his political philosophy and personality that probably encouraged the aspects of his politics to which they object--parts of his character even more positive accounts of him seem to recognize as weak points.