The Fall of Robespierre

24 Hours in Revolutionary Paris

By: Colin Jones

Narrated by: Sasha Higgins

The day of 9 Thermidor (July 27, 1794) is universally acknowledged as a major turning-point in the history of the French Revolution. At 12:00 midnight, Maximilien Robespierre, the most prominent member of the Committee of Public Safety which had for more than a year directed the Reign of Terror, was planning to destroy one of the most dangerous plots that the Revolution had faced.

By 12:00 midnight at the close of the day, following a day of uncertainty, surprises, upsets and reverses, his world had been turned upside down. He was an outlaw, on the run, and himself wanted for conspiracy against the Republic. He felt that his whole life and his Revolutionary career were drawing to an end. As indeed they were. He shot himself shortly afterwards. Half-dead, the guillotine finished him off in grisly fashion the next day.

The Fall of Robespierre provides an hour-by-hour analysis of these twenty-four hours.

©2021 Colin Jones (P)2022 Tantor

Exciting Hx

This is a very good introduction to understand in French Revolution. Perhaps this is the way that history should be taught in school. I found it very helpful to read with Wikipedia by my side since, for example, many of the organs of government are abbreviated in abbreviations that may be very familiar to the story, and or the student history knows this stuff before reading the book, but to the general reader, it is often confusing. I also have a personal dislike for books, read by readers, who are the opposite gender to the narrator/author of the book but I’m sure that’s a personal dislike, not shared by the general public this Rieder does a fine job, giving a dramatic reading.

Really interesting but. . .

I had a copy of the book. Otherwise, I would have been totally overwhelmed. A scorecard of the players would have been handy.