Joseph Fouche. Portrait of a political activist - Zweig S. (9789660376748)

Stefan Zweig (1881 - 1942), an outstanding Austrian writer, once said: “. . . the history of 19th-century France would be incomplete without the clues of such personalities as Fouché." The poor church teacher, who started out with the first revolutionaries, became a millionaire under the bourgeois Directory, a duke and a powerful minister of police under Napoleon, and contributed to the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy. He, according to Honore de Balzac, had "greater power over people than Napoleon", whom he defeated in a psychological duel, like Robespierre, betrayed both, as well as a thousand others. The secret of political longevity (25 years!) Fouché is simple: timely replacement of the mask, absolute absence conscience and principles.