Appalling !! 6

Knowing this historian for the hearing, and often noted the relevance of his remarks and his analysis, I was delighted to read one of his books. What was not my disappointment from the first pages of the book. I had the impression of being in a historical novel, the author outlines the thoughts and the different actors of the Revolution as if they had made him confidences. Indeed one wonders why it does not go directly to prosopopoeias, the distance is thin, particularly for the king. All this, without, for various historical characters, the reader could really discern the thoughts, moods true, because observed and reported from those untrue by the author, all of course, that all seem also credible.
At this table, as if that were not enough, the author, that I dare qualify historian for this work, adds a large number of repetitions, and sometimes underlines the obvious, that make me wonder as player, the fact of being caught or not remained a; sometimes to the point that I expected the turning of a page to see pictures to illustrate this and help the reader supposed deficient or find coloring pages ...
In trying to make it short, I'll give a few examples among the existing crowd, taken early in the book to support my point:

P 33: Marie Antoinette spoke the king, "it is very well made, he loves me but is a nonchalance and a sloth who never leave"
Author: yet he hunts with passion and temerity.

Now, page 32, explains in great length the king hunting violently, page 20 he enjoys hunting with passion every day. The author was he afraid that we have forgotten on page 33 he has already made clear on page 20 and 32?

But there is more:

Louis XV Page 25 "Poor France, a king aged 51 and a dolphin eleven years old! Poor France "
The author following: As of this December, 1765, Louis Duke of Berry is in effect dolphin France.
He has eleven years

Sometimes we would have missed the two lines above or that the years of Louis XV would not be the same as ours ...

But more serious page 130, it says that the National Assembly proclaims Constituent Assembly without an explanation, while page 131, repeatedly, if ever, he speaks again of the king's moods, the book's thread, very emotional supposed besides, of course, for "These days of anguish and the choice exhausted. "... It favors futile to basics, to the point.

So no depth analysis or in the causes or guidance behaviors or choices, nothing. These examples in themselves would not be dramatic if they were outstanding, unfortunately the whole book is built on this model. Moreover, a historian to give more interest in a work may give it some oomph of a historical novel, in order to make the reader more actor than spectator, either. But from there to talk about the historical figures on their moods, thoughts of all kinds, and it consistently is simply beyond most of history, except that these facts were true, and thus advertised as such.
I am distressed by such a book, and I'm really forced myself to read the complete work, to see if anything could redeem part or not all. The answer is no!

I still questioned face of such disappointment. So I looked at what the best works in their entirety by this author, and I was not surprised that he has done a lot in the novel, which I was unaware. Too bad it has not limited and confined to these loves there, where no doubt he must excel in many advantage that the historical work. In any case, it is clear that he has been unable or unwilling to separate the two genres.

I strongly advises against such a book for lovers of history, however, it may be a good transition for lovers of historical fiction, especially since the same facts, the course, the progress of events, everything is there, and to me it seems, truthfully for what I know, the historian has overtaken the novelist, on these points.