Some critics find the delivery difficult, noting the language is often torturously abstract and "hyper-intellectualized".
Reviewers praise the book for being a "welcome corrective" to simplistic moral critiques and a "bracing intervention" in political theory. It is noted for its concise and compelling prose. In Defence of the Terror: Liberty or Death in t...
Wahnich suggests the Terror was established to prevent massacres by the populace (like the September Massacres) by transferring the "right of vengeance" to the state. In Danton's words, the state had to "be terrible so as to spare the people the need to be so". Some critics find the delivery difficult, noting the
Sophie Wahnich's is a provocative, succinct essay that challenges modern "moralising" views of the Reign of Terror. Rather than seeing it as a descent into madness, Wahnich argues it was a rational institutional response designed to control and curb anarchic popular violence. Core Arguments & Themes Wahnich suggests the Terror was established to prevent