The Dynamite Club

Reviews / Votes

"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 *