Tom Holland

speaker

53,183 appearances 201 recordings 9 series first heard Sep 2024 last heard 2d ago

Tom Holland’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

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Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 92 in all, peaking in Jun 2026 with 11.

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The Rest Is History · 708. The Terror: The Reign of Robespierre (Part 2) · 23 Sep 2026 podcast

I mean, he's very earnest. matched

He's very stiff. matched

He seems to be without much charisma at all. matched

And yet over the course of the four years that follow the eruption of the revolution, he emerges to become one of the most celebrated figures in revolutionary France, admired and hated in equal measure. matched

And the measure of his rise to power is something that you mentioned in your previous episode, Dominic, that on the 27th of July, 1793, matched

France is seemingly on the verge of disintegration. matched

Robespierre is elected to this proto-dictatorial body, the Committee of Public Safety. matched

This means that he is now one of 10 men, soon to be 12, who have been appointed to protect the nation from invasion, from counter-revolution, from economic collapse. matched

And in effect, try and save the revolution from imploding matched

him? matched

Well, I think there are two in particular, and both of these have been on public display from his earliest days as a lawyer back in Arras. matched

And the first of these is that he displays matched

a remarkable consistency of principle. matched

From the earliest days, he is unswerving in his opinions. matched

He doesn't trim, he doesn't tap, he doesn't alter them. matched

These principles are essentially a completely resolute commitment to popular sovereignty, to the will of the people. matched

a profound sympathy for the people, a sense of identification with them, and an opposition to autocratic government. matched

The consistency with which he holds these principles makes him seem to both his friends and indeed his enemies very unusual. matched

It gives him a kind of austere reputation. matched

Even those who dislike him are forced to respect him. matched

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