My knowledge of the French Revolution came from Charles Dickens "it was the worst of times; it was the best of times." After reading The Guillotine and the Cross by Warren Carroll there is no doubt in my mind that this period in France was the worst of times.
France was never the same after this Revolution. The Revolution nearly destroyed French civilization. It severely damaged the Church in France and the perceived democracy that the revolution tried to set up never happened.
It was a crazy time. Patriots were guillotined. Relatives betrayed familial bonds. Those in power soon were victims, themselves. Robespierre replaced God with a supreme being that resembled himself. Danton who initiated and supported the guillotine became a victim of it.
This book is a study of the Revolution. the National Convention is exposed as a violent tyrant that terrorized France for three years. The September Massacres of 1792 repulsed even the instigators.
Carroll spends time on what happened to Catholicism in this "Eldest Daughter of the Church." Fortunately, Louis de Montfort and the devotion to the Sacred Heart happened before the Revolution and I think, helped to fortify the faithful during this period.
Governments don't matter. Jesus is always King.
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