Last Letters: Prisons and Prisoners of the French Revolution 1793-1794/00489

by Olivier Blanc

Drawing on a centuries-old file, this volume reproduces the last letters by prisoners of the French Revolution in the last few moments before their death, and sheds new light on this turbulent time

Genres: History, French Revolution, Nonfiction, France, Research

250 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 1987

Reviews

[Tal M. Klein]

Stumbled onto this book whilst doing research for a book I'm writing. My intention was only to give it a skim, but the tragedy of each letter, each story, each condemned soul just drew me in. I couldn't read more than a few pages at a time because I felt it disrespectful to merely skim over the last words and thoughts of so many who met their unnatural end at the gallows of the French Revolution.

[Joanna Novins]

A fascinating book, not just for those interested in the history of the French Revolution, but for anyone who has ever wondered, 'if I were facing death, what message would I leave for my loved ones?' (Spoiler alert, everything from noble sentiments, to reminders to pay the maid.) And if you're a history nerd (like me), don't miss the bibliography which is also full of terrific primary source material.

[D]

An amazing collection of lost letters. Good research. It would have been nice to have seen some letters from more common people, but they were not the ones being executied!

[The Logophile]

This book delivers 100% on what the author promised, I'm just less intrigued by it as I thought I would be.

[Snail in Danger (Sid) Nicolaides]

I only read the letters of Olympe de Gouges and Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier, and of course Marie Antoinette. I may read the others at a later date.

[Brianna]

After reading an excerpt (Marquis de Gouy d'Arsy's tender farewell to his wife) in another history book, I checked this out because I assumed it would be full of letters with some annotations and historical context. It wasn't quite what I expected and, as fascinating as the French Revolution is, I just wasn't into the descriptions of the prisons.

[June Cleaver]

Love it. Tragic. Interesting.

[Aesha]

a really captivation book..

[Jason]

I really thought this would be heavier.