Thermidor

Thermidor, Ernest Hamel’s meticulous investigation of Maximilien Robespierre’s fall, unravels the political intrigue and contested narratives behind 9 Thermidor in the French Revolution. Drawing on original sources and authentic documents, Hamel challenges the persistent legend that casts Robespierre alone as the incarnation of the Terror, tracing how public memory and political convenience shaped the story of his downfall. Part history and part forensic political analysis, the book situates the events within the Committee of Public Safety’s fraught atmosphere, the rivalries of revolutionary factions, and the broader currents of 19th-century republican debate sparked anew by contemporary theatre and journalism. Hamel’s measured prose combines documentary evidence with critical context to show how responsibility, rumor, and retrospective myth-making rewrote the Revolution’s most dramatic episode. Readers encounter a portrait of Robespierre not as a simple scapegoat but as a figure entangled in complex power struggles. Ideal for listeners who love history, political biography, and primary-source scholarship, Thermidor offers a clear, authoritative account for students of the French Revolution, history buffs, and anyone curious about how revolutions are remembered and reimagined.