Gideon

I bought this book knowing nothing about it and expected it to be unhinged ranting. I was happily surprised that there is none of that. After finishing the book I certainly felt differently about Kaczynski.

In the version I had, there were letters he wrote back and forth with some journalist and Kaczynski is asked about the fact that he murdered a bunch of people. He doesn't really respond other than saying that it was the only way his ideas would get any attention.

Very Interesting and thorough series. It is somewhat difficult to follow at some points, as the author is expecting the reader to have a level of understanding that almost no one in modern times would have, such as minor political actors and events. At the same time, there are many points where Taine sources newspapers and letters from the period which gave me a great understanding of what it would have been like to have lived during the period.

Unfortunately, Hippolyte dies while working on the last book in the series and it certainly shows as it sort of just ends eventually.

If you have an interest in the time period and don't mind it's roughly 2000 pages long, I would recommend it.