Joseph Fouché: The Portrait of a Politician

How to survive the dulness of the French "Ancien Regime" when you were not an Aristocrat? By becoming a seminarist answers Fouche; how to finance Robespierre while actively supporting pro-slavery colonists of France's biggest slave trade center, the city of Nantes, and then be elected by them to lead a Counter-Revolution at the Paris Convention;
how to become elected President of the Jacobins club and be ousted of it to become the "Regisseur" of a Coup d'Etat in Thermidor 1795.
Fouche's life under Stefan Zweig becomes an art of knowing how to hold your head on your shoulders while making copious use of the guillotine on others; even using the cannon because the guillotine is too slow; how to escape the immense egos of both Robespierre show more and Bonaparte, to become Emperor Napoleon's brilliant Chief of Police, make millions, being elevated to Duke of Otranto only to later plot the return of the Monarchy.

There is nothing dull in the life of J. Fouche.

Zweig gives us the explanation for what Jean Orieux called "The Art of Survival" speaking of another seminarist, Talleyrand.

His biography is more a brilliant historical essay than a scholar's research but he is right to the point of this very modern character, Joseph Fouche, who by gaining absolute control over himself gained control over others.
His cultivated lack of character helped him not only survive but perceive historical tides which like a surfer he rode at the crest of their waves rather than being swept by them.

An adept to political duck-diving, he was an expert at popping back up after the wave passed over him.
Unfortunately for Zweig, 1929 Germany would soon have its fill of Joseph Fouches. show less

Una auténtica delicia dejarse atrapar por la capacidad narrativa de Zweig, por su sentido de la épica en la Historia, por los personajes que elige para iluminar una época. En este caso, Fouché es el ministro frío y amoral que inventó los servicios secretos como los conocemos hoy día. Sorprende su capacidad inmensa para sobrevivir a cualquier régimen, y un carácter taimado y artero capaz de engañar a los mismísimos Robespierre, Lafayette o Napoleón.

Una auténtica delicia dejarse atrapar por la capacidad narrativa de Zweig, por su sentido de la épica en la Historia, por los personajes que elige para iluminar una época. En este caso, Fouché es el ministro frío y amoral que inventó los servicios secretos como los conocemos hoy día. Sorprende su capacidad inmensa para sobrevivir a cualquier régimen, y un carácter taimado y artero capaz de engañar a los mismísimos Robespierre, Lafayette o Napoleón.

Un libro potente e coinvolgente, come si conviene alla misura dell'autore. Peccato che per fare 'stare dentro' il personaggio nell'ipotesi biografica, ogni tanto ci sia qualche incongruenza che riduce la credibilità storica della ricostruzione.

4296. Joseph Fouche The Portrait of a Politician, by Stefan Zweig translated from the German by Eden and Cedar Paul (read 6 Apr 2007) This is the fifth book by Zweig I've read. He interests me, having had a dramatic life ending in 1942 when he and his wife committed suicide because the world stage seemed so awful. Fouche was a cleric (though never ordained) for ten years, then became a bloodthirsty revolutionary, then was Napoleon's police chief for a time, then a supporter of King Louis XVIII (even though he voted to cut off his brother's head). Zweig portrays him as evil, always looking out for himself. History is consistently interesting and Zweig is a forceful writer, even though the biography is not in the form I like, since it has show more no footnotes nor any bibliography. show less

Long out-of-print, this biography of Joseph Fouche, a major behind-the-scenes figure in the French Revolution, is a fascinating study of a rise from relatively humble beginnings to the absolute pinnacle of power, back down again, and then up, and then again down. Fouche’s roll-coaster ride of fortune is a remarkable story.

This is an interesting character but the book is mediocre and the tone of the biopgraphy a little bit petulant and too romantic. Still I recommend it.