Professor Marisa Linton
Contact
- Email: m.linton@kingston.ac.uk
- Location: Penrhyn Road
- Faculty: Kingston School of Art
- School: School of Creative and Cultural Industries
- Department: Department of Humanities
About
I am a historian of the French Revolution, also eighteenth-century politics and the Enlightenment. I have written numerous books and articles on the politics of the French Revolution, including, Choosing Terror: Virtue, Friendship and Authenticity in the French Revolution (Oxford University Press, 2013), and, most recently, Terror: The French Revolution and its Demons, with Michel Biard (Polity Press, 2021). I also work as a historical consultant. I am currently working on a study of four leaders of the French Revolution – Maximilien Robespierre, Georges Danton, Louis-Antoine Saint-Just, and Camille Desmoulins.
My current research focuses on the leaders of the French Revolution, particularly the complex reasons why, in the context of the political and military crisis of 1793 to 1794, they turned to a policy of legalised terror. I am concerned to trace the dynamics of revolutionary politics, including: the role of emotions – above all fear and patriotic fervour – in generating the policy of terror; the role of ideas of virtue, vice, and political, financial and sexual corruption in the construction of political identity; the need for revolutionary leaders to be seen as having authentic integrity; the part played by fears of conspiracy in political decision-making; and the dynamics of personal factors and relationships – including loyalty, friendship, enmity, distrust and duplicity, in revolutionary politics. I also work on the dynamics of gender in revolutionary politics and the role of women in the French Revolution.
I have made numerous media appearances, and given many public talks on my work. I frequently act as a historical consultant on projects about the French Revolution, and other aspects of the political, social and cultural history of the eighteenth century. I regularly give talks and workshops for A-level students.
Academic responsibilities
Professor Emerita in History
Qualifications
- 1993 - PhD in History, University of Sussex.
- 1989 - MA in History (with Distinction), University of Sussex.
- 1988- BA in Historical Studies (with First Class Honours), Middlesex University.