Book Review

Book Review

Paris In the Terror: June 1793 - July 1794

by Stanley Loomis

     Reading about the French Revolution can be a bewildering task. A lot of books examine the abstract ideologies at the expense of the people who participated in it. Those ideologies can seem like a haze of minute details and inconsistent theories. A lot of those books also prostitute the subject matter, be it Marxists, conservatives, anarchists, American libertarians or Thomas Carlyle; the revolution gets used as a means of pushing a political agenda adding extra elements of confusion into an already murky historical subject. This is where Stanley Loomis’ Paris In the Terror:June 1793 – July 1794 comes in since it focuses on the people more than the ideas of the French Revolution.

     Loomis’ approach is to describe the human side of those times. The major figures are portrayed as detailed individuals and their psychological motivations are brought out into the open for the world to see. This book is written almost like a novel with vivid descriptions and plot elements so that the reader feels like they are present as the events unfold. This makes the history easier to relate to and more comprehensible. Another thing that Loomis gets right is that he does not try to tell the story of the whole revolt in one book. By narrowing the scope of the narrative, the events and their significance are easier to grasp. It probably does not matter that it solely examines the Reign of Terror that happened at the climax of the French Revolution. A basic knowledge of what came before and after that notorious time is enough to make this book comprehensible. The well-defined characters and sharp focus on one segment gives Paris In the Terror more structure, clarity, and gravity than other accounts therefore justifying it as a significant text for serious readers.

     It is possible to say the character driven narrative makes Loomis’ writing almost cinematic. You may wonder why so much of the first section is dedicated to the life of Charlotte Corday who many authors might consider to be of little value since she is only remembered for the assassination of Jean-Paul Marat. But learning about her motivations clarifies a lot of the conflicts inherent in the story. She exemplifies the contrast between Paris and the outlying provinces, the division between the Girondins and Montagnards in the Assembly, and the ambiguous intellectualism and attitudes to the revolution that were current among the French populace.

     A larger section of Paris In the Terror describes the life of Danton. Loomis portrays him as the moderate leader of the Cordelier Club that tried to unite the naively idealistic Girondins with the action-oriented thugs and ruffians of the Montagnards. All the while he was embezzling money from the national treasury to purchase property despite his loyalty and patriotism to the country of France that he deeply loved. The complexities and contradictions of his motives get thoroughly examined; Loomis makes him one of the central figures of the story and his mixture of admiration and disappointment is easy to see.

     The other major player is Robespierre. The cutthroat lawyer who loved the guillotine more than the French people gets cast as a horrifying villain. His character is cowardly and humorless, unable to love and asexual. His lofty moral standards were impossible for anyone to live up to except for himself. His intention was to purge France of anyone who was not revolutionary enough so he cut through a lot of red tape by eliminating due process of law and sending thousands of people to the Place de la Revolution to be butchered by the executioner Samson. Eventually his followers began to realize that the longer they lived, the closer they got to the guillotine. It is difficult to sympathize with the character of Robespierre but it also becomes more apparent as the book goes on that the French Revolution was mostly a populist uprising; the members of the Jacobins who made up most of the Assembly were politically naive and inexperienced in running a government. One lesson that might be learned is that having merchants, farmers, and thugs seize control over government can easily lead to a bloodbath, especially when they feel their goals are not being reached quickly or efficiently enough.

     Paris In the Terror is not without it faults. Jean-Paul Marat gets portrayed as a ranting, resentful instigator of violence; this portrayal may be true but there are many people who consider him a hero and Loomis’ does not draw him as a three-dimensional character which he does for others like Charlotte Corday who has her share of detractors as well. Overall, the accuracy of Loomis’ depictions can be called into question but then again, so what? It is clear who the author loves and who he hates but any writer or historian will bring their own personal prejudices into their writing. Besides, so far no other author can claim a monopoly on truth when it comes to portraying the French Revolution. It was a time when too much happened, there were too many people involved, and they all brought their own ideas, legitimate or not, into the events of the day. It would be natural for even eye-witnesses of the revolution to give contradictory accounts of what happened.

     Paris In the Terror is a fascinating book. Its vivid descriptions put the reader right at the sidelines of the action while exemplifying how human nature and psychology caused the French Revolution to take all the disastrous turns that it did. The ideologies of the participants take a back seat to the people who believed in them. It also does not revel in the gore and inhumane slaughter that characterized the Reign of Terror. History is made by people and the people, with all their imperfections, who made the French Revolution are at the center of this storm. You do not have to agree with Loomis’ interpretations to get a lot out of this book; you just have to observe and decide for yourself what to think.

Loomis, Stanley. Paris In the Terror: June 1793 - July 1794. J.B. Lippincott and Company, Philadelphia and New York: 1964.