Glory and Terror: Seven Deaths Under the French Revolution

Fully engaging our fascination with the macabre, Glory and Terror illustrates how certain corpses became highly charged political symbols during the course of the French Revolution. Arguing that the key moments of the Revolution were "dialogues with the dead," this fascinating study effectively evokes the passions inflamed by seven famous corpses. The author takes a look at the very public death of the great orator and libertine, Mirabeau; vividly describes the pageantry of the procession carrying Voltaire's body to the Pantheon; and investigates the sexually-charged myths surrounding the murder of Marie Antoinette's intimate friend, the Princess de Lamballe. He brilliantly recreates the tense and awe-inspiring spectacle of Louis XVI's execution, and examines the agonizing final hours of the defeated and disfigured Robespierre InGlory and Terror, Antoine de Baecque, a brilliant young scholar and writer with a growing international reputation, focuses his considerable talents on dissectingthe passions propelling the Revolution, which are captured by his virtuoistic and visceral descriptions. With each episode, he demonstrates how the body became a powerful icon that helped to push the Revolution into each successive phase. Anyone who enjoys dazzling cultural history in the vein of Robert Darnton, Carlo Ginzburg and Anthony Grafton will revel inGlory andTerror.

Antoine de Baecque is Professor of History at the University of Saint Quentin in Yvelynes, France.