Maximilien Robespierre (1758ā1794) is arguably the most controversial and contradictory figure of the French Revolution, inspiring passionate debate like no other protagonist of those dramatic and violent events. The fervor of those who defend Robespierre the āIncorruptible,ā who championed the rights of the people, is met with revulsion by those who condemn him as the bloodthirsty tyrant who sent people to the guillotine. Marcel Gauchet argues that he was both, embodying the glorious achievement of liberty as well as the excesses that culminated in the Terror.
In much the same way that 1789 and 1793 symbolize the two opposing faces of the French Revolution, Robespierreās contradictions were the contradictions of the revolution itself. Robespierre was its purest incarnation, neither the defender of liberty who fell victim to the corrupting influence of power nor the tyrant who betrayed the principles of the revolution. Gauchet shows how Robespierreās personal transition from opposition to governance was itself an expression of the tragedy inherent in a revolution whose own prophetic ideals were impossible to implement.
This panoramic book tells the story of how the man most associated with the founding of modern French democracy was also the first tyrant of that democracy, and it offers vital lessons for all democracies about the perpetual danger of tyranny.
Awards and Recognition
- A Choice Outstanding Academic Title of the Year
"Epic in scope, Robespierre relates how the man who became an icon of the movement for French democracy also became its first tyrant. Its narrative is a potent, timely warning that the very real danger of tyranny lies within democracy itself."āForeword Reviews
"The virtue of Gauchetās book is his laser-like focus on the one belief that shaped Robespierreās constantly evolving opinions and actions: that government should reflect the will of the people, but particular interests, often involving conspiracies, stand in the way of the triumph of that general will."āLynn Hunt, New York Review of Books
"It is not so much Robespierre himself who is of interest to Gauchet, but Robespierre as a synecdoche for the revolution...It is to their considerable credit that in their introduction of the book, David A Bell and Hugo Drochon have elucidated the basic contours of Gauchetās long career in their introduction, which will be absolutely indispensable to English readers likely to be less familiar with the polemical intentions behind this book. Indeed, as they themselves note, Robespierre offers perhaps the easiest entry point to Gauchetās work."āAngus Brown, Tocqueville 21
"Gauchetās recent book, Robespierre: The Man Who Divides Us the Most...comes to us beautifully translated by Malcolm DeBevoise and introduced by David Bell and Hugo Drochon. Robespierre is a lively addition to an already spirited world of French revolutionary biographies."āKevin Duong, Perspectives on Politics
"Engaging. . . .Gauchet’s Robespierre: The Man Who Divides Us the Most is a stimulating addition to studies of Robespierre as a political thinker and orator."āMette Harder, H-France Review
āFor Gauchet, Robespierre is a tragic figure because he hoped to lay the foundations of the rights-respecting liberal-democratic order which we now venerate but could not escape from a fatally inappropriate vision of the people for whose rights he was fighting, and, instead of harmony, generated horror. He stands in one sense as an inspiration, but in another as a warning.āāfrom the foreword by David A. Bell and Hugo Drochon
āA subtle, elegant, and perspicacious explanation of Robespierreās double career, in 1789ā91 and 1792ā94. It is also a general guide to the history of modern France.āāPatrice Higonnet, Times Literary Supplement
āMarcel Gauchetās intellectual biography of the French Revolutionās most celebratedāor notoriousāspokesman brings out all the ambiguities forced upon him by the way the revolution developed. Gauchetās lucid analysis makes clear why Robespierreās role in shaping the revolution and its legacy has fueled so much vehement disagreement over two centuries.āāWilliam Doyle, author of The Oxford History of the French Revolution
āIn this engrossing and provocative book, Marcel Gauchet departs from the dichotomy of āheroic martyr or bloodstained monsterā to provide a new understanding of Robespierre as a personification of the revolutionās political trajectory. Gauchet gives us a controversial yet sympathetic reading of Robespierreās idealism and tragedy while shedding light on core debates about the meaning of democracy itself.āāPeter McPhee, author of Robespierre: A Revolutionary Life
