An epic work of historical fiction about the French Revolution, from the Booker Prize-winning and bestselling author of the Wolf Hall trilogy
Hilary Mantel was born in Derbyshire. She was educated at a convent and later studied law. After ten years abroad in Africa and the Middle East, she returned to Britain in 1985 to make a career as a writer.
'Hilary Mantel has soaked herself in the history of the period!and a striking picture emerges of the exhilaration, dynamic energy and stark horror of those fearful days.' Daily Telegraph 'Superbly readable!nothing less than a well-researched but richly idiosyncratic fictional history of the French Revolution!an assured and strange masterpiece.' Sunday Telegraph 'I cannot think of a historical novel as good as this until on goes back to Marguerite Yourcenar's "Memoirs of Hadrian", published forty years ago.' Evening Standard 'Marvellous!her great achievement is not just in making these long-dead demagogues live and breathe, but setting them in a brilliantly-realised family context, and surrounding them with vivid womenfolk who question, challenge or endure. It was the best of times; it was the worst of times. Hilary Mantel captures it all.' Time Out 'Crafty tensions, twists and high drama!a bravura display of her endlessly inventive, eerily observant style' Times Literary Supplement 'An extraordinary and overwhelming novel!immensely detailed and yet fast-moving!she has set herself to capture the excitement and intellectual fervour of the period. She does it admirably!a tour de force.' Allan Massie, Scotsman
'Hilary Mantel has soaked herself in the history of the period!and a striking picture emerges of the exhilaration, dynamic energy and stark horror of those fearful days.' Daily Telegraph 'Superbly readable!nothing less than a well-researched but richly idiosyncratic fictional history of the French Revolution!an assured and strange masterpiece.' Sunday Telegraph 'I cannot think of a historical novel as good as this until on goes back to Marguerite Yourcenar's "Memoirs of Hadrian", published forty years ago.' Evening Standard 'Marvellous!her great achievement is not just in making these long-dead demagogues live and breathe, but setting them in a brilliantly-realised family context, and surrounding them with vivid womenfolk who question, challenge or endure. It was the best of times; it was the worst of times. Hilary Mantel captures it all.' Time Out 'Crafty tensions, twists and high drama!a bravura display of her endlessly inventive, eerily observant style' Times Literary Supplement 'An extraordinary and overwhelming novel!immensely detailed and yet fast-moving!she has set herself to capture the excitement and intellectual fervour of the period. She does it admirably!a tour de force.' Allan Massie, Scotsman
``History is fiction,'' Robespierre observes at one point during British writer Mantel's monumental fictive account of the French Revolution, her first work to appear in this country. In her hands, it is a spellbinding read. Mantel recounts the events between the fall of the ancien regime and the peak of the Terror as seen through the eyes of the three protagonists--Robespierre, Danton and Desmoulins--and a huge cast of supporting characters (including brief appearances by the scrofulous Marat). The three revolutionaries, longtime acquaintances, spend their days scheming and fighting for a corruption-free French Republic, but their definitions of ``corrupt'' are as different as the men themselves. Robespierre is the fulcrum. Rigidly puritanical, he is able to strike terror into the most stalwart of hearts, and his implacable progress towards his goal makes him the most formidable figure of the age. As the lusty, likable and ultimately more democratic Danton observes, it is impossible to hurt anyone who enjoys nothing. The feckless, charming Camille Desmoulins, loved by all but respected by few, dances between the two, writing incendiary articles to keep the flames of revolt alive. Mantel makes use of diaries, letters, transcripts and her own creative imagination to create vivid portraits of the three men, their families, friends and the character of their everyday lives. Her gift is such that we hang on to every word, following bewildering arguments and Byzantine subplots with eager anticipation. This is historical fiction of the first order. History Book Club, QPB and BOMC alternates. (Mar.)
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