Jean-Lambert Tallien. The Unloved Son of the French Revolution

Jean-Lambert Tallien, a political figure of the French Revolution, earned himself a rather unflattering reputation among his contemporaries and later among historians. The son of a steward who became a revolutionary activist, he was one of the youngest deputies of the Convention, sent on a responsible mission to the heart of Gironde - Bordeaux, and then, on the 9th of Thermidor, daring to be the first to speak out against Robespierre, a participant in Bonaparte's Egyptian campaign - Tallien rapidly made a political career, but did not stay long at the peak of fame. The author of the book, D. V. Zaitsev (IVI RAS, GAYH), explores the origins of the "black legend" that has formed in historiography about this bright and controversial figure of the Revolution, analyzes the reasons that allowed a seemingly quite ordinary person from the lower classes to achieve dizzying success in politics, and answers the question of why his rapid rise ended in an even more rapid fall.