The the merciless war for freedom in revolutionary France Andress, David 1969- creator text bibliography nyu New York Farrar, Straus, and Giroux 2006 1st American ed. monographic eng

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441 p. : ill., maps ; 24 cm. For two hundred years, the Terror has haunted the imagination of the West. The descent of the French Revolution from rapturous liberation into an orgy of apparently pointless bloodletting has been the focus of countless reflections on the often malignant nature of humanity and the folly of revolution. David Andress, a leading historian of the French Revolution, presents a radically different account of the Terror. The violence, he shows, was a result of dogmatic and fundamentalist thinking: dreadful decisions were made by groups of people who believed they were still fighting for freedom but whose survival was threatened by famine, external war, and counter-revolutionaries within the fledgling new state. Urgent questions emerge from Andress's reassessment: When is it right to arbitrarily detain those suspected of subversion? When does an earnest patriotism become the rationale for slaughter? This new interpretation draws troubling parallels with today's political an religious fundamentalism.--From publisher description. Night flight -- Hankering after destruction -- The fall -- The September massacres -- Dawn of a new age -- Things fall apart -- Holding the centre -- Saturnalia -- Faction and conspiracy -- Glaciation -- Triumph and collapse -- Terror against terror. David Andress. Includes bibliographical references (p. 403-427) and index. e-fr--- France History Reign of Terror, 1793-1794 Political violence France Franse Revolutie Terreur DC183.5 A561t 2006 944.04/4 15.70 0374273413 (alk. paper) 9780374273415 (alk. paper) 2005047217 http://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy0624/2005047217-b.html http://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy0624/2005047217-d.html http://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy0624/2005047217-s.html http://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy0624/2005047217-b.html http://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy0624/2005047217-d.html http://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy0624/2005047217-s.html DLC 050510 20230410105218.0 51872