Review by Choice Review
This volume by freelance historian Zamoyski (originally published in Britain in 2014 with the subtitle The Threat of Revolution and the Repression of Liberty, 1789-1848) is an entertaining but ultimately disappointing contribution. It is a grabbag of a book, largely consisting of highly readable anecdotal excerpts of secret police reports and contemporary memoirs (especially by Austrian Foreign Minister Klemens von Metternich), but it provides little general socioeconomic background and fails to show evidence of familiarity with a huge mass of post-1900 historical writings (the omission of Eric Hobsbawm, Age of Revolution, from the bibliography is typical). The book's central theme is that Metternich and his ilk constantly feared the plotting of a central revolutionary directorate in Paris (which never existed) and viewed all signs of dissent--of which there was quite a bit--as evidence of such, requiring ever-new crackdowns. The author rarely touches on the broader background to growing dissent, summarized in the term "modernization," and barely mentions forms of control beyond the secret police, such as restrictions on the ballot and on freedom of speech, association, and trade unions. Ironically, although written for general readers, the book will mislead them and will be most useful for professors looking for anecdotes to spice up their lectures. Summing Up: Optional. General readers; faculty. --Robert J. Goldstein, emeritus, University of Michigan at Ann Arbor
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In the first days of the French Revolution, minor nobles and the French lower classes hoped for greater liberties. Instead, as Zamoyski (Warsaw 1920) reveals in this meticulous, thorough account, the revolution's devolution into a bloodbath and the subsequent rise and fall of Corsican upstart Napoleon created paranoia among monarchs, leading to the evolution of narrowly focused police and agents provocateurs (who became models for state agents in Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union). Zamoyski demonstrates how this atmosphere enveloped not only France, but much of Europe, leading to increased restrictions and harsh punishments, notably for students and foreigners. In the midst of the overarching theme of progressive (also called liberal or radical) movements and their opponents, key figures such as Wellington, Napoleon, Czar Alexander, and the Bourbon heirs pale beside the grand schemer and architect of the multicountry alliance: Austrian foreign minister Klemens von Metternich. It's a dense but stimulating work; Zamoyski takes an infamous 18th-century class struggle and painstakingly shows how the resulting suppression manifested itself through sophisticated spy networks and Germany's heightened nationalism, as well as a chasm between the economic and social classes that persists today. Clare Alexander, Aitken Alexander Assoc. (Feb.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Zamoyski (Poland: A History) focuses on the period after the French Revolution of 1789, when fear of liberal ideas became associated with revolutionary violence and European governments promulgated a spate of reactionary polices. Ironically, that French-style revolutionary movements were forming in their midst, other European governments began copying the French model of a secret police establishment, including the use of spies and agents provocateurs, to clamp down on dissent. Zamoyski's examination of the process of repression makes the book more than a retelling of the history of Europe from 1789 to 1848. The author of numerous studies on the Romantic era, Zamoyski provides insight into the political elites who sought to maintain the status quo. VERDICT In pursuit of the story of paranoia and repression, Zamoyski has mined an impressive selection of primary sources from Britain to Austria. His sympathy is clearly with the liberal reformers, and he ridicules the notion that repressive legislation of the era was even necessary. While the author periodically falls into his own polemics, often describing conservative thinkers as "hysterical," the book is well written and should appeal to a wide audience.-Frederic Krome, Univ. of Cincinnati Clermont Coll. (c) Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Zamoyski (Poland: A History, 2012, etc.) shows how the French Revolution instigated fear in the hearts of European governments, most of it unfounded and falsely propagated by undefined fears and self-perpetuating rumors.The author examines how broadly European countries enacted reactionary and draconian laws meant to control the masses. Austrian Prime Minister Klemens von Metternich was a prime example, especially since it was he who encouraged the spread of false stories like that of the Comit Directeurostensibly a revolutionary group that was the driving force behind all the insurrections and demonstrations that occurred across Europe, even though it never existed and the demonstrations were caused by high bread prices and poor working conditions. "Nowhere was there any sign of anyone, let alone any body, directing anything," writes the author. "There was no transnational cooperation." The chaos immediately following the French Revolution was subdued by the ascent of Napoleon, who instituted central organs of control, while other countries relied on local governance. With the defeat of Napoleon, the "Holy Alliance" of Russia's Alexander I, Austria's Francis I and Prussia's Frederick William III attempted to return to a social order based on throne and altar and eliminate the influence of the Enlightenment and the belief in popular sovereignty. All were irrationally aggressive, fearing a new revolution backed by the secret organizations of the Comit, Freemasons, Jacobins and Illuminati. That aggression took the form of spies and secret police in every country, most widely under Metternich. Though the French Revolution may have spread the idea of the "rights of man," it also increased the fears and the power of those who repressed it. Zamoyski provides perhaps too many examples of severe sentencing of innocents, but his point is important, and his book comprehensively examines the role of the powerful over the weak and the effects of governmental overreactions. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
