Adolphe Thiers completes his monumental history of the French Revolution with this tenth volume, but don't expect a neat, happy ending. This book covers the turbulent period after the fall of Maximilien Robespierre in July 1794, known as the Thermidorian Reaction. The public euphoria of ending the Terror quickly gives way to the messy reality of what comes next.

The Story

The new government, the National Convention, is now dominated by the men who overthrew Robespierre. They immediately face a mountain of problems. They have to dismantle the machinery of the Terror, releasing prisoners and repealing harsh laws, which angers hardline radicals. At the same time, they're trying to stop a royalist resurgence from the right, which leads to its own brutal crackdowns. Thiers walks us through the failed popular uprisings of Germinal and Prairial, where starving Parisians storm the Convention demanding 'Bread and the Constitution of 1793.' We see the government finally approve a new constitution in 1795, which creates the Directory—a five-man executive meant to provide stability. The book closes with the royalist rebellion of 13 Vendémiaire, where a young artillery officer named Napoleon Bonaparte makes his first major mark on history by defending the Republic with a 'whiff of grapeshot.'

Why You Should Read It

This volume is fascinating because it shows a revolution growing up, or maybe just growing tired. The fiery idealism of the early years is gone, replaced by political maneuvering and the grim work of survival. Thiers doesn't paint heroes and villains as clearly here; it's a gray area of compromised politicians trying to steer a broken ship. His strength is in the details—the economic woes, the shifting public mood, the debates in the Convention that feel immediate and high-stakes. You get a real sense of how exhausting and confusing this period was for everyone involved. It's the essential 'what happened after' that most stories skip.

Final Verdict

This is for the reader who has a basic grasp of the Revolution's early years and wants to see how it all really ended (before Napoleon took over, that is). It's perfect for history buffs who enjoy political drama and for anyone who wonders, 'Okay, you won the revolution... now what?' Thiers's style is narrative-driven and accessible, though it's a 19th-century text, so be ready for some density. Think of it as the final, tense season of a brilliant, bloody TV series where no one is safe and the future is completely uncertain.