This volume is a study of 11 of the key figures of the French revolution, providing portraits of the contrasting personalities and fortunes of the men who helped to precipitate and shape one of the most momentous upheavals in history. Of those featured here, only three (Sieyes, Lafayette and Dumouriez) survived the revolution and lived to see its apotheosis in the Napoleonic Empire. Of the others, Mirabeau died in 1791 and Louvet in 1797, while the remainder - Brissot, Marat, Danton, Fabre, Robespierre and St Just - were murdered or executed. J.M.Thompson writes in his introduction But to all of them the Revolution was an overwhelming experience. What did they do in it? What did they think of it? Let us see. The book contributes to the literature on the revolution and complements the sociological and theoretical work done on the period in recent years. This book should be of interest to historians and general readers.