Fatal Purity: Robespierre And The French Revolution, by Ruth Scurr

Villains in the real world can be the most fascinating to watch with the question in mind “What is their aspiration?” Robespierre, was the fanatic French revolutionist who sought to limit the governments’ power by slaughtering their heads off. Because of which we also get to witness the thrashing downfall of him and the French Revolution. Fatal Purity: Robespierre And The French Revolution is brilliantly written by Ruth Scurr which depicts her effort of researching and analyzing to present the readers with Robespierre’s captivating story. Also, it’s acknowledgeable to have an author who delivers both facts and her opinions but not absolve nor condemn Robespierre’s character.

After reading Fatal Purity: Robespierre And The French Revolution, by Ruth Scurr, it is understandable that the author’s research and biography of Maximilien Robespierre was delivered with clarity, enthrallment, persistence and boldness. What engaged me even more is how Scurr went beyond focusing only on life events of Robespierre, she reached out further to bring us the society he grew up in and how the atmosphere outside his country was like. Adding all those factors to Robespierre’s situation it becomes clear why he provoked the path to end up one day beheading hundreds of men and women in the guillotine. This perhaps is one of the most finest and sharpest studies on the French Revolution as a whole and of Robespierre in particular.

Reviewed by Ayesha M., Grade 10

Glendale Central Library