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 époque 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 époque, 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