Synopses & Reviews
Lonard Bourdon: The Career of a Revolutionary, 1754-1807 illustrates the ways in which one individual was affected by and influenced the long and turbulent course of the French Revolution. It also rescues an active, intelligent and interesting man from a prolonged period of scholarly neglect and redeems his reputation from being perceived as a particularly cruel revolutionary terrorist.
Sydenham follows Bourdon's political career from the final days of the old monarchy through Bourdon's active participation in the Revolution. Bourdon was always aware that political development must be accompanied by educational change, and his lifelong interest in education is an integral part of his story.
Bourdon left remarkably few personal papers. During the painstaking exploration for details of his life, several critical as well as unfamiliar events of the period have been illuminated, suggesting that similar misrepresentations of many other relatively unknown French revolutionaries have distorted current understanding of this period, crucial to the growth and development of modern democracy.
Synopsis
Bourdon is primarily known as a particularly cruel revolutionary terrorist and scholars have taken little interest in him of late. But Sydenham (history, Carlton U.), finding him an active, intelligent, and interesting character, follows his career from the final days of the old monarchy through his active participation in the French Revolution. He highlights Bourdon's awareness that political development must be accompanied by educational change.
Description
v9w0 Includes bibliographical references (p. 395-408) and index.