Safety only in Death

.... is the conclusion of Hilary Mantel's 'A Place of Greater Safety', , a novel of the French Revolution, focusing on three of its initiators- Camille Desmoulins, Danton and Robespierre. With rapidly moving events, multiple points of view and a vast cast of characters that enter and leave the story at various points, Mantel makes no compromises. Everything is meticulously researched, every person given their due.

Her story focusses on the growth and change in these three men, and the relationships between them - Danton- to whom the Revolution was the means to greater fortune, Robespierre- Tyrant or Incorruptible, depending on how you perceived him- to him the Revolution was the end in itself, and the man caught between the two- charming, passionate Camille.

It was Camille whose reckless enthusiasm led to the storming of the Bastille; his newspapers that incited the people to revolt; he who encouraged the use of violence to further the aims of the revolution- and it was he who looked into the abyss and recoiled to see it staring back at him. And then not even his friendship with Robespierre could save him from the heirs of the Revolution- the men to whom dissent was equal to treachery- who replaced the tyranny of monarchy with the mechanical mercilessness of the Committee.

Robespierre himself- who started off hating violence, but would in fact, do anything for his principles- except his principles vacillated between the end and the means, his friends and his ethics. He changes from a man who deplores violence to one who condones it- in the supposed interest of the state.

And Danton- who seems initially to be only an opportunist- no idealist like Camille or Robespierre- who finds in himself a core of idealism - to protect his friends and the Revolution he set off.

And there are the supporting characters, many of whom could have books based on themselves- Marat, Lafayette, the King and Queen of France, Lucile, Saint-Just, and on and on, and even a brief mention of Bonaparte.

For all the size of the book, its the last pages that help you realize just how much you've been drawn in to the lives of these characters- as Camille protests the depths the Revolution has sunk to, as Danton finds himself facing off against his enemies, and Robespierre reaches the limits of his personal power. As they each find that the avalanche they set off is going to bury them in it- then you come to sympathise- to see that they had each dreamed of a Utopia, but had only succeeded in creating a hell.