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Article: Liberte, egalite, bloodshed.(Citizens and Cannibals: The French Revolution, the Struggle for Modernity, and the Origins of Ideological Terror)(Book Review)
- Article from:
- American Scholar
- Article date:
- September 22, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 Phi Beta Kappa Society. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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CITIZENS & CANNIBALS: THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, THE STRUGGLE FOR MODERNITY, AND THE ORIGINS OF IDEOLOGICAL TERROR By Eli Sagan. Romman and Littlefield. $35.
Composed in the spring of 1792, as the French Revolution approached its fourth year and war with Austria loomed, "The Battle Song of the Army of the Rhine" aimed to lift spirits and rouse troops. Soon retitled in honor of the southern soldiers who made it popular, "La Marseillaise" promised a glorious day when France's new citizens would rise up to tear down tyranny's "bloodstained banner." Marching on in closed ranks, they would destroy foes out to "slaughter our sons, wives, and kin"; they would drench the ...