Lord Grenville and the 'smoking gun'’: The plot to assinate the French directory in 1798–1799 reconsidered

Durey, M. (2002) Lord Grenville and the 'smoking gun'’: The plot to assinate the French directory in 1798–1799 reconsidered. The Historical Journal, 45 (3). pp. 547-568.

Abstract

This article re-examines the evidence that has been used to claim that, in the aftermath of the collapse of the British secret service's counter-revolutionary plans in France in September 1797, foreign secretary Lord Grenville supported a French royalist plot to assassinate the Directory. It concludes that, although his agent James Talbot was actively involved and probably thought he had official permission to proceed, Grenville remained ignorant of the plot until December 1798. He subsequently ordered Talbot to withdraw from the conspiracy. Emphasis is placed on communications difficulties associated with undercover secret service activities in this era and on bureaucratic failures within the foreign office, together with evidence to suggest that Talbot was temperamentally unsuited to the role of intelligence officer.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Murdoch Affiliation(s):	School of Social Sciences and Humanities
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Copyright:	2002 Cambridge University Press
URI:	http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/13811

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