EatTheRich
President
I'm most (but not all ... on PJ too much) of the way through Hilary Mantel's A Place of Greater Safety. Based on what I've read so far, I think most of the politically minded folks here would enjoy it tremendously. It's a retelling of the French Revolution through the intimate lives of 3 lawyers-cum-radical politicians with very different characters ... Georges-Jacques Danton the ambitious political climber, Camille Desmoulins the pleasure-minded darling of the salons, and Maximilian Robespierre, Desmoulins's childhood friend and the grim crusader for human rights and democracy.
I recently read Eric Hazan's A People's History of the French Revolution. It is also highly recommended and was invaluable to help sort out the many famous characters in Mantel's book ... and many of them feature prominently, from Mirabeau to Marat, from Fabre d'Eglantine to Jacques Roux, Collot d'Herbois, Hebert, Saint-Just, and the list goes on and on. Mantel's book really humanizes these larger-than-life figures and brings the revolution to life.
I recently read Eric Hazan's A People's History of the French Revolution. It is also highly recommended and was invaluable to help sort out the many famous characters in Mantel's book ... and many of them feature prominently, from Mirabeau to Marat, from Fabre d'Eglantine to Jacques Roux, Collot d'Herbois, Hebert, Saint-Just, and the list goes on and on. Mantel's book really humanizes these larger-than-life figures and brings the revolution to life.
