Robespierre. Portrait Against the Background of the Guillotine

Maximilien Robespierre – the hero of the revolution and the executioner of his own associates, a progressive liberator and a suspicious dictator, an "incorruptible" politician and a mad fanatic. Since the execution under the blade of the guillotine, Robespierre has transformed from a historical figure into a sinister legend. But can we unambiguously characterize someone who was composed, by their very nature, of contradictions, cunning, and relentless struggle? Can a new understanding of the actions and policies of this remarkable French revolutionary lead us to comprehend his personality? In answering this and other questions, the authors of the book, historians Philippe Burdin and Michel Biard, turn to Robespierre's cultural and historical legacy.
"It is necessary to repeatedly study this man and his legacy for a better understanding, to work on his portrayals, to cherish his memory, to deepen historiography. For all this, he himself – more often than not unwittingly – inspired in the heat and tragedy of revolutionary events, in the collective unconscious, reproduced on the pages of national literature taking into account political upheavals, with archival overload or, on the contrary, with regrettable reticence." (Philippe Burdin, Michel Biard)