A Place of Greater Safety
by Hilary Mantel · first published 1992
67% recommend33% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Historical novel of the French Revolution following Danton, Robespierre and Desmoulins. Praised for making the period feel understood and for its beautiful prose. Suits history readers who enjoy literary fiction.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
A spellbinding, epic novel which recounts the events between the fall of the Ancient Regime and the peak of the Terror, as seen through the eyes of the French Revolution's three protagonists – Georges-Jacques Danton, Maximilien Robespierre and Camille Desmoulins, men whose mix of ambition, idealism, and ego helped unleash the darker side of the Revolution's ideals and brought them eventually to their own tragic ends. Critically acclaimed upon first publication, 'A Place of Greater Safety' is one of Mantel's most celebrated works of fiction.
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I do prefer precision in my humor, yes. Seriously though, I find the entire period fascinating (mostly via the Revolutions postcast, and reading Hilary Mantel's A Place of Greater Safety). The French Revolution is such a pivotal point in Western history that I believe that precision is important.
on “Egypt prepares to start move to new capital, away from the chaos of Cairo” ↗Books this year that I loved: "A Place of Greater Safety" - Hilary Mantel [French Revolution - Danton, Robespierre, Desmoulins ...] "One Summer: America 1927" - Bill Bryson "Napoleon the Great" - Andrew Roberts "Seveneves" - Neal Stephenson Reading "The…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2015?” ↗Her novel A Place of Greater Safety about the French Revolution is also really good.
on “Thomas Cromwell: A Revolutionary Biography” ↗I would check out John Crowley, starting with Little, Big. One of the great American prose stylists. Hilary Mantel is very good. I haven't read the Wolf Hall books, but A Place of Greater Safety is beautiful and deserves to be better known. I would also nominate Gene Wolfe, especially The Book of the Sun. Fits very well with the subject matter of Nabokov, as it is also a clever metatextual puzzle,…
on “Don't be terrified of Pale Fire” ↗…They're "standing on the toes" people more than Newton's "standing on the shoulder of giants" (which of course predates Newton and I will deservedly be castigated for naming it thus) I really liked "a place of greater safety" from 1992 which proceeded the Cromwell books by some years. Spine shivering stuff. The film "Danton" came out some years before in 1983 and I remember thinking that the book influenced how I thought…
on “Hilary Mantel, Historian” ↗I too can recommend A Place of Greater Safety. Really brings the French Revolution to life.
on “Hilary Mantel, Historian” ↗I'd strongly recommend her novel about the French Revolution "A Place of Greater Safety".
on “Ask HN: 2018 Summer Reading List?” ↗Just another plug for A Place of Greater Safety: it's a wonderful book, rather overshadowed by Wolf Hall.
on “Egypt prepares to start move to new capital, away from the chaos of Cairo” ↗Anything by Hilary Mantel is extraordinary and worth your reading time. Wolf Hall trilogy threw me into a decade-long search into who really was Thomas Cromwell, A Place of Greater Safety finally made me feel like I understand the French Revolution (I enjoyed this as an audio book on a very long drive) . Thanks to her, complex history has made sense, and how today's machinations are not…
on “Hilary Mantel Reviews “A Life of One's Own/An Experiment in Leisure” (1986)” ↗…publish a review by Hilary Mantel of a book about Danton [0] which is actually a meditation on what it means to be a revolutionary and how place might fit into that. Mantel, having researched and written A Place of Greater Safety[1], is not exactly a historian but does have some fascinating things to say. I subscribe to the LRB. I don't know tons about most of what is written, but having smart people who can write well pitching…
on “Shebeen Queens: Review of “A World History of Women and Alcohol"” ↗I thought "A Place of Greater Safety" (her first work) was good in part but too long. My favourite book of hers, other thann the Wolf Hall trilogy is "Beyond Black".
on “Hilary Mantel, Historian” ↗I don't recall that they specifically say it in the credits, but this movie about the French Revolution follows Place of Greater Safety quite closely - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098238/ in the sense that the story follows the ties between Camille Desmoulin/Robespierre as schoolkids through to the friendship with Danton etc .. if you…
on “Hilary Mantel, Historian” ↗