A Family of Brigands in 1793 by Marie de Sainte-Hermine is a nonfiction story of an Aristocratic Family during the French Revolution. It is a book I never anticipated reading but after having a family member recommend it to me, I felt compelled to check it out. The story was definitely interesting and offered a different perspective than what I learned about in regards to the French Revolution. Although I never had to teach the French Revolution in class, I have always learned how the French Revolution was extending those democratic ideals that were established in the United States after the American Revolution. This means, if Democracy was expanding then the French Revolution was obviously a good thing, despite the bloodshed and the usage of a new tool of death, the guillotine. This story offers a different perspective that was fascinating to learn about.
The first item to note is the term "Brigands." According to dictionary.com, a brigan is a member of a gang that ambushes or robs people in the mountains or the forest. This is an interesting term for the family story in the book because they are constantly talking about how well they treat others, care for their servants and how holy and religious they are. I also refer to the book as nonfiction because it was brought to publication by a priest who had a written account of a woman's story, Marie de Sainte-Hermine (family was friends with the priest), who had given permission to publish the story to pass on to the family. Once the priest's friend passed away, permission was given to publish the story publically.
The story focuses on the family's experience in the Vendean War of 1793. The family was a very strong devout Catholic family that was responding to the French Revolution and the killing of the Royal Family. It is important to note, the French Monarchy was supported by the Catholic Church and Catholicism was the national religion. Protestantism was viewed very negatively by the Monarchy and supporters of the Royal Family. (My own family was forced out of France in the 1500s because they were not Catholic.) It was interesting to read about the views of a Catholic family who was appalled by the murder of the King and Queen, their attempts to save the Kind and Queen from the guillotine and their view on French philosophers such as Voltaire. Voltaire is one philosopher that we often mention as a great thinker for Democracy by influencing the founders of our nation with ideas of free speech and freedom of religion. However, from the perspective of the French Monarchy and these devout Catholic families, freedom of religion was a corrupting force that weakened the French Government and weakened the influence of Catholic teachings and culture within France. A good reminder that perspective is everything in understanding people's views and historical events.
While the Sainte-Hermine family was given the name Brigands, and were participants in the Vendean War, they are viewed as enemies of the French Revolution which ultimately would be enemies of Democracy. As an American I would write that off as the "bad guys", but it was fascinating to read about how their Catholic teachings influenced their treatment of prisoners. While this family wanted to seek revenge for killed loved ones, or religious symbols being desecrated, other members of the family (who won out) would encourage forgiveness, better treatment of prisoners and often give prisoners their freedom because they were defenseless at the time, and murder, torture or revenge would be sinful. They were more concerned about having the souls of their family than saving their lives. This conflict in the middle of a war and uprising was fascinating to follow and definitely gave me a different perspective of events and the history of France.
As for a recommendation, I think this is a great book to give another perspective. It is a good, first hand account of an aristocratic family during the French Revolution (Although I think it is worth noting, while this family talks about how well they treated prisoners and their servants, this fair treatment may not have been common by all aristocrats in France. This is still only one family). If you enjoy history, learning about military history, religion or a blend of social history along with military conflict, this could definitely be a book for you. Understanding the culture of the family, there are definitely references to Catholic teachings and vocabulary that non Catholics may struggle with, but it also provides an opportunity for learning.