The Fall of Robespierre: 24 Hours in Revolutionary Paris (Guest: Colin Jones)

Heartland’s Tim Benson is joined by Colin Jones, Professor of History at Queen Mary University of London and Visiting Professor at the University of Chicago, to discuss his new book, The Fall of Robespierre: 24 Hours in Revolutionary Paris. They discuss how Maximilien Robespierre went from completely secure in his person to awaiting the guillotine in the course of a day, who were the major players in the plot against him, and how they achieved their coup. They also discuss what everyday life in Paris was like during the Terror for the average Parisian and how many of those people would have to make a fateful choice on 9 Thermidor.

Get the book here:  https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-fall-of-robespierre-9780198715955?q=fall%20of%20robespierre&lang=en&cc=us

Show Notes:

Financial Times: Tony Barber – “The Fall of Robespierre by Colin Jones — a revolutionary end”
https://www.ft.com/content/12f33c91-5b7b-45fa-a295-afdfea735eec

History Today: Colin Jones – “The Fall of Robespierre”
https://www.historytoday.com/archive/fall-robespierre

Literary Review: John Adamson – “Night of the Guillotine”
https://literaryreview.co.uk/night-of-the-guillotine

London Review of Books: Caroline Webber – “Much more than a Man”
https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v44/n06/caroline-weber/much-more-than-a-man

New York Review of Books: David A. Bell – “The End of the Terror”
https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2022/03/10/the-end-of-the-terror-robespierre-jones-bell/

The Spectator: Ruth Scurr – “The men of blood get their comeuppance in Revolutionary France”
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-men-of-blood-get-their-comeuppance-in-revolutionary-france

The Sunday Times: Dominic Sandbrook – “The Fall of Robespierre by Colin Jones review — the day he met the guillotine”
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-fall-of-robespierre-by-colin-jones-review-the-day-he-met-the-guillotine-bljwsjx0k