Vice And Virtue: Men Of History - Great Crooks For The Greater Good

In Vice and Virtue, A great French criminal defense lawyer digs through the evidence to test key figures from history to shed new light on their roles in French history. How many heroes fare 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.

Paul Lombard was one of France's top criminal defense lawyers of the 20th century, and at the same time a prolific and talented writer. He was equally passionate about literature and abolishing the death penalty. Lombard wrote on contemporary legal themes as well as such books as By the blood of a prince: the Duke of Enghien, The trial of the King, and the Anthology of neglected poets: from Jean Marot to Samuel Beckett.

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 leading characters cross-examined in these pages:

• Talleyrand - A diplomat known for his cunning and duplicity
• Napoleon 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 power

Lombard reveals the vanity and the corruption, but also the grandeur and panache that characterize the great. This cavalcade over many centuries is omre 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!