Dimensions
168 x 241 x 42mm
From early 1793 to the summer of 1794, the young French Republic was subject to a reign of institutionalised terror - in many ways the precursor of Stalin's Great Terror of the 1930s.
The Republic founded on Liberty, Equality and Fraternity degenerated into a nightmare of paralysing fear and panic, of suspicion and betrayal. Personified by Robespierre and Saint Just, the Terror convulsed and very nearly ruined France - until they too met their fate under Dr Guillotin's new invention.
That extraordinary, bloodthirsty period comes vividly to life in Graeme Fife's new book; by mining the original French sources - contemporary documents, eye-witness accounts, reports from the dreaded Committee of Public Safety - he brilliantly recreates the deadly, paranoid atmosphere of the time.
He shows that the Terror was not just confined to Paris - the guillotine cut a swathe across France, and yet some departments were left almost unscathed. In Nantes, thousands of prisoners were dragged from their prison and drowned in the Loire.
And yet amidst the horror there are also stories of great dignity and heroism, incredible escapes, and almost unbearable pathos - the author includes heartbreaking letters written by those awaiting execution; letters which were intercepted, and never reached their destination.
'The Terror' is a compelling new account of a key episode in French history - and in that of the world. For its architects were surly history's first terrorists.
