Jean-Paul Marat : prophet of terror / Keith Michael Baker

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Baker, Keith Michael.

Series:

Life of ideas

The life of ideas series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Marat, Jean Paul, 1743-1793.

Marat, Jean Paul.

France--History--Revolution, 1789-1799--Biography.

France.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (930 pages) : illustrations (black and white)

Edition:

1st ed.

Other Title:

Prophet of terror

Place of Publication:

Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2025.

Summary:

"In this monumental work, influential historian Keith Michael Baker takes readers on a journey through the life of Jean-Paul Marat (1743-1793). Starting with Marat's family and upbringing, Baker then sheds light into Marat's early years in England, his career as an aspiring scientist (including his writings on fire, light, and electricity), his gradual transformation from pamphleteer to revolutionary newspaperman, and, finally, his murder and martyrdom. Throughout, Baker offers readers the unique opportunity to reconsider the lead-up and development of the French Revolution through Marat's eyes and in his words. To help make sense of Marat's trajectory, Baker focuses on his subject's lifelong distrust of representation, from the political realm to the scientific and back again. Just as Marat railed against the abstract representation of natural forces in scientific discourse, so, too, in his political thought, he preferred direct embodiment. The Revolution, with its debates between sovereignty represented (in national assemblies) and sovereignty embodied (in the people) provided the perfect occasion for Marat's escalating rhetoric of denunciation and purge. Baker shows how Marat's incendiary public calls to render unseen forces visible, for immediacy in an increasingly abstract modern world, would transform classical republicanism into the language of the Terror"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

ONE THE SWISS FAMILY MARA

''A LITTLE MAN ... A QlJICK EYE"

TWO ON THE MOVE

THREE MAKING IT IN LONDON

FOUR LOCATING THE SOUL

FIVE WILKES AND LIBERTY

SIX THE CHAINS OF SLAVERY

SEVEN DOCTOR TO THE INCURABLE

AGONISTIC SCIENCE

EIGHT BIG GAME

NINE A NEW NEWTON? "

TEN FOLLOWING FRANKLIN

ELEVEN THE FIGHT FOR GLORY

TWELVE DESTINATION MADRID?

THYMOTIC POLITICS

THIRTEEN REVOLUTIONARY REBIRTH

FOURTEEN THE PEOPLE'S EYE

FIFTEEN ENEMIES OF THE PEOPLE

SIXTEEN HOW MANY HEADS?

SEVENTEEN REMEMBER NANCY

EIGHTEEN MOBILIZING THE PEOPLE

NINETEEN SALUS POPULI

TWENTY REPRESSION, REVISION, DESPAIR

THE FIRST MODERN POPULIST

TWENTY -ONE A MACHINE THAT WOULD NOT WORK

TWENTY -TWO THE PEOPLE'S REVOLUTION

TWENTY -THREE THE MONSTER AND THE MOUNTAIN

TWENTY -FOUR TO KILL A KING?

TWENTY -FIVE A PARTY OF ONE

TWENTY -SIX THE MARAT MOMENT

TWENTY -SEVEN PURGE

CONCLUSION

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I

NOTE ON SOURCES

ABBREVIATIONS

NOTES

INDEX

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Online resource; title from PDF title page (EBSCOhost platform, viewed December 22, 2025).

Other Format:

Print version: Baker, Keith Michael. Jean-Paul Marat.

ISBN:

9780226820934

OCLC:

1548566052