The Making of a Terrorist

Alexandre Rousselin and the French Revolution

Jeff Horn

Provides the perspective of a survivor of the French Revolution never before studied.
Offers a colorful account of the Revolution and its aftermath from an eyewitness and participant in many key events.
Explains factionalism and the practice of the Terror from the bottom up.

The Making of a Terrorist

Alexandre Rousselin and the French Revolution

Jeff Horn

Description

Much has been written about the French Revolution and especially its bloody phase known as the Reign of Terror. The actions of the leaders who unleashed the massacres and public executions, especially Maximilien Robespierre and Georges Danton, are well known. They inspired many soldiers in the Revolutionary cause, who did not survive, let alone thrive, in the post-Revolutionary world.

In this work of historical reconstruction, Jeff Horn recounts the life of Alexandre Rousselin and narrates the history of the age of the French Revolution from the perspective of an eyewitness. From a young age, Rousselin worked for and with some of the era's most important men and women, giving him access to the corridors of power. Dedication to the ideals of the Revolution led him to accept the need for a system of Terror to save the Republic in 1793-94. Rousselin personally utilized violent methods to accomplish the state's goals in Provins and Troyes. This terrorism marked his life. It led to his denunciation by its victims. He spent the next five decades trying to escape the consequences of his actions. His emotional responses as well as the practical measures he took to rehabilitate his reputation illuminate the hopes and fears of the revolutionaries. Across the first four decades of the nineteenth century, Rousselin acquired a noble title, the comte de Saint-Albin, and emerged as a wealthy press baron of the liberal newspaper Le Constitutionnel. But he could not escape his past. He retired to write his own version of his legacy and to protect his family from the consequences of his actions as a terrorist during the French Revolution.

Rousselin's life traces the complex twists and turns of the Revolution and demonstrates how one man was able to remake himself, from a revolutionary to a liberal, to accommodate regime change.

The Making of a Terrorist

Alexandre Rousselin and the French Revolution

Jeff Horn

Acknowledgments
Introduction: A Romantic Remembers the French Revolution
Chapter 1: Education for Change, 1773-92
Chapter 2: The Making of a Terrorist, 1792-94
Chapter 3: The Consequences of Terror, 1794-96
Chapter 4: Rehabilitation: Political, Literary, and Social (1795-1815)
Chapter 5: Liberalism and the Press (1816-38)
Chapter 6: Remembering and Forgetting the French Revolution: Memories and Memoirs
Conclusion: Satisfactions and Regrets of a Life in Revolution
Appendix: Alexandre Rousselin and the Historians
Timeline
Notes
Select Bibliography
Index

The Making of a Terrorist

Alexandre Rousselin and the French Revolution

Jeff Horn

Author Information

Jeff Horn is Professor of History at Manhattan College. He is the author or editor of numerous books, including Economic Development in Early Modern France: The Privilege of Liberty, 1650-1820.

The Making of a Terrorist

Alexandre Rousselin and the French Revolution

Jeff Horn

Reviews and Awards

"The amazing account of an enfant terrible of the French Revolution who, through a complex mixture of idealism and opportunism, survived each succeeding regime to become a wealthy liberal journalist under the Restoration and the July Monarchy; and who passed from personal secretary of Georges Danton, to the friend of Benjamin Constant — and perhaps the lover of Josephine de Beauharnais — the associate of Adolph Thiers, and even an acquaintance of King Louis-Philippe (who was godfather to his son). A spectacular story." -- Timothy Tackett, University of California, Irvine

"At the age of nineteen Alexandre Rousselin became an advocate of terror as an active revolutionary, trying to make a better world. He spent much of the rest of his long life, under a succession of political regimes, trying to live down his part in the heady years of the Revolution. Horn has made a compelling choice for a biographical study; he uses Rousselin's life to shine new light on the seismic years of the French Revolution and what it meant to become a revolutionary." -- Marisa Linton, author of Choosing Terror: Virtue, Friendship and Authenticity in the French Revolution

"Jeff Horn recounts the astonishing tale of a poor Parisian boy who somehow became the private secretary of Danton and Desmoulins, survived the deadliest days of the Revolution, and died a wealthy newspaper magnate and liberal noble. This is an illuminating story of brilliance, daring, and maneuvering." -- Peter McPhee, University of Melbourne

"A gripping account of a fascinating figure who traversed some of the most momentous eras in modern history. Jeff Horn has a rare talent for finding overlooked historical evidence and a keen sense of the dilemmas faced by anyone who survives a high-level engagement with revolutionary politics." -- Lynn Hunt, author of History: Why It Matters