At Home: A Short History of Private Life

by Bill Bryson

If it was his goal in life to make as little impression as possible upon history, he achieved it gloriously.

If they were feared or admired, it was within very small circles.

As is usual with these things, the organizers wanted an iconic centerpiece and invited proposals. A hundred or so were submitted, including a design for a nine-hundred-foot-high guillotine, to commemorate France’s unrivaled contribution to decapitation.