Decisive Moments in History: The Reign of Terror

De: Charles River Editors

Narrado por: Tim Welch

As one of the seminal social revolutions in human history, the French Revolution holds a unique legacy, especially in the West. The early years of the Revolution were fueled by Enlightenment ideals, seeking the social overthrow of the caste system that gave the royalty and aristocracy decisive advantages over the lower classes. But history remembers the French Revolution in a starkly different way, as the same leaders who sought a more democratic system while out of power devolved into establishing an incredibly repressive tyranny of their own once they acquired it.

The height of Republican France's tyranny came during a 10-month period forever known as the Reign of Terror, the most notorious and arguably most memorable part of the French Revolution. One of the first victims of the Reign of Terror was its most famous: former French Queen Marie Antoinette. But Antoinette was followed by thousands more, including everyone from aristocrats to clergy to prostitutes and even instrumental revolutionaries like Danton, Desmoulins, and, most notably, Robespierre. It was Robespierre whose position on the Committee of Public Safety made him the Reign of Terror's instrumental figure until he himself became a victim of it in July 1794. Robespierre's date with the guillotine is often considered the official end of the Reign of Terror, but by then it is estimated that at least 16,000 people were guillotined in that time and possibly 25,000 more were summarily executed across the country.

Decisive Moments in History: The Reign of Terror chronicles this instrumental period of the French Revolution, explaining the historical background leading up to it, the seminal moments of the Reign of Terror, and its aftermath and legacy.

©2012 Charles River Editors (P)2015 Charles River Editors

Not bad not great

It was a decent summary of the time but the reader had a very hard time with French words, and also with several basic English words. For example, "ration", as in "food rations", was being pronounced as "ray-shuns". There was also a very distinct change in voice between chapters as the reader sounds more forceful as the chapter goes on, then resets at the start of the next. These made for a somewhat distracting listen - but overall content seemed OK.

Excellent Read

This book takes place during the French Revolution focusing mainly on the "Reign of Terror," describing the historical events of which led up to it. Starting off the overall tone and accent of the narrator, Tim Welch, was excellently expressed. The tone is very upbeat and emotions are clearly shown when an important event was occurring, or the climax of certain scenes were being reached. Some words were pronounced with a French accent which really helps allow readers to feel as if they were in the time of the French Revolution. This book really helped me gain an understanding on the key events that occurred during the time of the French Revolution and how monumental they were. For example when discussing the tragic event that occurred on June 17th, 1794, something I never knew was recorded happened. This shows how big of an impact Robespierre had on history. All of the details are very chronological and allow for each date to be told giving a reader a great knowledge of when they actually occurred. Sometimes online books feel sort of like a job to read but that is not at all the case with this one. Learning about history never felt so easy and engaging. Overall this is a great read and covers key details that occurred during "The Reign of Terror."