Vice & Virtue:

Sound Bite

In Vice and Virtue, a great French criminal defense lawyer digs through the evidence to test key figures from history, shedding new light on the roles they played. How many heroes are also criminals? From the courtesans of Versailles to the back halls of Chirac’s government, from Danton — revealed to have been a paid agent for England — to the shady bankers of Mitterand’s era, from the buddies of Mazarin to the builders of the Panama Canal, Paul Lombard unearths the secrets of the corridors of power.

About the Book

Many are they who, in the course of history, have placed their own passions before the public interest. But what has been the result? Here are a few of the 14 lead characters cross-examined in these pages:Talleyrand - A diplomat known for his cunning and duplicityNapoleon Bonaparte - A prominent military and political leader known for his ambitious reforms and wars Concino Concini - A powerful figure in France during the reign of King Henry IV Cardinal Richelieu - The Cardinal and Duke who controlled King Louis XIII and instituted royal absolutism Cardinal Mazarin - Succeeded Richelieu and completed the destruction of the feudal nobility's powerLombard reveals the vanity and the corruption, but also the grandeur and panache that characterize the great. This cavalcade over many centuries is more than a useful and dramatic brush-up on history, it can be read as a subversive tract on how to lead. Lombard proposes, "First we had the separation of the Church and State. Now, we need to separate politics and money."With humor and goodwill, throughout his career as a prominent lawyer and writer, Lombard shows that it is not men that are evil, but reality that is cruel. Furthermore, these great bandits accomplished great dreams; and this master of the Bar asks they be acquitted. And he wins his point. Party of Virtue is the Party of Hypocrisy. Fundamentally, the only ones who don't give anything to the corrupt are the romance-writers - and that is just as well. They are the only ones left!