Victims of the National Razor

I have, it would appear, acquired something of a reputation for liking the more grisly aspects of history. Perhaps it is my prized miniature guillotine, perhaps the number of salon visitors who ended their days beneath the blade of that iconic instrument of death, I can hardly tell! Whatever the cause, these past months I have received a few queries from readers who would like an easy way to track down all the guillotine posts here at the Guide.

I always aim to help if I can and for this reason, I have introduced a new guillotine tag for just such an occasion. To make things even easier though, here are the links to all of those guillotine posts - I hope they prove ghoulishly diverting!

A model of the 1792 guillotine

To kick us off, who better than Joseph-Ignace Guillotin? This gentleman championed the guillotine, little imagining just how often it would come to be used!

The French Court During Revolution
Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette: The iconic king and queen of France.
Princess Élisabeth of France: A loyal sister to the end.
Madame du Barry: Mistress to a king.
Anne d'Arpajon: The woman mocked as Madame Etiquette by Marie Antoinette.
Lamoignon de Malesherbes: The man who defended Louis XVI at his trial, forced to watch his family die before his own execution.

The French Revolution
Maximilien Robespierre: The Revolutionary politician who presided over the Terror.
Charlotte Corday: Assassin.
Jean-Sylvain Bailly: Architect of the Revolution.
Louis-Antoine de Saint-Just: This confidante of Robespierre died alongside him.
Georges Danton and Camille Desmoulins: Powerhouses of the Revolution who fell foul of the Jacobins.
Olympe de Gouges: An ardent revolutionary and thinker who rethought her politics as the Reign of Terror took hold.
Friedrich von der Trenck: Spy, adventurer and man of action.
Adam Philippe, Comte de Custine: The military man better known as Général Moustache.

Life in the Georgian Court, true tales of 18th century royalty, is available at the links below.

Pen and Sword
Amazon UK
Amazon US

Book Depository (free worldwide shipping)