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<p>Praise for The Dynamite Club <p> In The Dynamite Club, John Merriman brings together his astonishing knowledge of nineteenth-century France, his unmatched skills as an archival 'detective, ' his marvelously lucid writing style, and his uncanny talent for bringing historical figures to life. The result is a searing portrait of the tensions and violence that lurked behind the glittering facade of fin-de-siecle France and eerily foreshadowed the terrorist threat of the present day. -- David Bell, author of The Cult of the Nation in France and The First Total War <p> Those who think of terrorism as an inexplicable evil produced by an alien culture will have their eyes opened by this fascinating study of nineteenth-century anarchist terrorists . . . [An] absorbing true crime story, with Dostoyevskian overtones, about high ideals that motivate desperate acts. -- Publishers Weekly, starred review<p> John Merriman has told an absorbing story of the strange world of anarchism in late-nineteenth-century France. Replete with uncanny and uncomfortable similarities to the 'war on terrorism' today, The Dynamite Club portrays a society swept up in the fear of bombers who are certain that they are achieving immortality for a righteous cause. This saga of Emile Henry and his motley crew of fellow anarchists is hard to put down. -- David Kertzer, author of The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara and Amalia's Tale

Questioning why terrorists attack people like us may lead to answers that call for us to examine our own roles in creating and maintaining the social, economic or political conditions that give rise to terrorist acts. This examination is what makes The Dynamite Club so important. Merriman demythologizes mile Henry and the loosely organized international group of anarchist thinkers who inspired and supported him. Merriman also comments, without being heavy-handed, on the conditions European anarchists were trying to change.

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