So yeah - this is a thread to discuss some good books about the French Revolution, important leaders of it, thoughts about it as well as how it eventually failed and became the way for the usurper Napoleon Bonaparte (Sanguinaire Dictateur de l'Empire) to take the Throne and declare himself Le Empereur.

I always found the character of Robespierre to be fascinating. Particularly what amounted to his major transformation sometime following his rise to power and before the start of the Great Terror. Originally, Robespierre was a staunch opponent of executions and the death penalty (as far as a I understand) and suddenly this attitude changed and he became a much harder individual: orchestrating the bloodiest period of the revolution and causing the deaths of countless individuals via Guillotine. Seems to be a text-book example of "power corrupts" or perhaps good intentions going very bad.

Just a thought I suppose.

Seems he just lost his head over that one

Read about the Virtuous Republic, ultimately he attempted to make France virtuous. However, in Revolution, the interior is always in danger by Reactionaries and Counter-Revolutionaries. One can not have freedom, liberty and Revolution without paying a price - something we have to remember.