Books
2 Best Novels About the Thermidorian Reaction
Bestselling authors first, then star rating.
Phase
Thermidorian Reaction, 1794
27–28 July 1794
On 9 Thermidor Year II, members of the National Convention turned against Maximilien Robespierre and his closest allies. Arrest, an attempted mobilisation by the Paris Commune and a night of uncertainty ended with Robespierre’s capture and execution on 28 July 1794.
The fall of the Robespierrists weakened the institutions associated with the Terror and opened a period of political reaction. Jean-Lambert Tallien was among the deputies prominent in the attack, while Thérésa Cabarrus later became closely associated with the memory and legend of Thermidor.
The Triumph of the Scarlet Pimpernel inserts Percy into Tallien’s decision to move against Robespierre, while A Child of the Revolution uses the political reversal to reshape the prospects of its royalist and republican protagonists.
