Harsin has written an exhaustively detailed, thoroughly researched account of the "doomed branch of [19th-century French] republicanism," the montagnard
movement. This hard left movement's predominantly male and working-class members looked back with fondness on Robespierre and the Reign of Terror; they embraced violence as a necessary means for bringing about revolutionary change and favored a top-down approach to governing. The movement was optimistic in July 1830, as Paris was rocked by revolution. The new king, Louis-Philippe, at first talked like a republican, but soon began governing by repression: he curbed freedom of the press and association, and immediately began cracking down on republican dissent. The montagnard
organizations, whose structure and philosophy are skillfully detailed by Colgate historian Harsin, were forced deep underground. They hoarded weapons and stayed one step ahead of the police, awaiting the call to arms. There were several failed republican insurgencies during Louis-Philippe's July Monarchy (1830–1848), each followed by trials, repressive new laws and police crackdowns. Harsin uses newspaper accounts, court transcripts and memoirs to bring readers inside the minds of these desperate republicans and their doomed rebellions. Finally, in 1848, one of the most tumultuous years in French history, Louis-Philippe abdicated; a provisional government was established with republican leanings. Alas, the montagnard
movement considered the new government too bourgeois, and another bloody insurgency broke out in July 1848. Once again, the montagnards
were defeated; exile, prison and death were the fates of many of their leaders. Despite the drama, Harsin's narrative is recommended mainly for those with a serious interest in 19th-century French republicanism, especially its hard left aspects. 14 b&w illus. (July)
