A fantastic book for lovers of history. It brings the french revolution to life and paints vivid portraites of all the main protagonists ( )

Novel of the French Revolution told through the experiences of six different characters, real participants, inc. Maximillien Robespierre,and two "common" women who became leaders and founders of the Revolutionary Republican Women. Such a period of upheaval and terror - jealousies, corruption. Why did theirs fail, but America's succeeded?? Probably helped that America did NOT have an entrenched nobility. ( )

A very readable book, bringing to life a period in history and six lives from that time with humanity and humour. Piercy follows 'Max' Robespierre, Georges Danton, Nicolas Condorcet, Manon Roland and actress Claire Lacombe into the French Revolution, devoting a chapter to each character, and taking the reader through the Terror with each of them.

This is a fictionalised account of fact and common myth about famous names such as Robespierre and Danton, and Piercy translates these figures into sympathetic individuals with ease, but I wish she had left her soapbox at the author's note and not made the decision to break down anachronisms by using modern, American terminology. Her feminist viewpoint starts to get a little monotonous after a few chapters, as none of the women are allowed to speak or behave naturally - all are proclaimed as intellectual, independent beings, who would be on equal terms with the men if not for the pesky social conditions of the time. Indeed, Madame Roland was a very intelligent and industrious woman, but the reader is not allowed to learn this about her for themselves, as Piercy provides a disclaimer for each female character, presumably so that modern readers won't be put off by women who are also wives and mothers! And words and phrases like 'pal', 'guy', 'cookie-cutter', and 'no fair' do not sit well in a book about the eighteenth century; I know the author did this intentionally, but most of the book is written in plain and yet standard English, so the slang is really not necessary.

However, apart from the clash of centuries, I enjoyed this book, and learned a lot more about men and women like Robespierre and Madame Roland than I would have with a dry text book. Very enjoyable. ( )