The Dynamite Club

In ... his enthralling and cinematic account of a Paris cafe bombing in 1894, Merriman achieves that rare thing: virtuosic storytelling that doubles as superb history. -Kirk Davis Swinehart, Chicago Tribune -- Kirk Davis Swinehart Chicago Tribune Historically eye-opening and psychologically insightful. -Chuck Leddy, Boston Globe -- Chuck Leddy Boston Globe Those who think of terrorism as an inexplicable evil produced by an alien culture will have their eyes opened by this fascinating study of 19th-century anarchist terrorists. -San Francisco Examiner San Francisco Examiner Merriman's account frames an illuminating study of working-class radicalism in belle epoque France and its bitter conflict with the establishment in an age when class warfare was no metaphor. It [is] an absorbing true crime story, with Dostoyevskian overtones, about high ideals that motivate desperate acts. -Publishers Weekly, starred review Publishers Weekly Reconstructing Henry's own attacks, Merriman allies a forensic eye with the texture of Paris de la belle epoque, ably renders Henry's personality, and implicitly invites comparison of his with the mid-sets of contemporary terrorists. -Gilbert Taylor, Booklist -- Gilbert Taylor Booklist Reading a book on nineteenth-century anarchism by John Merriman is a bit like reading one on the semicolon by Strunk and White...he is able to pack in riveting detail. -Bookforum Bookforum