In its fifth year (1793-1794), the French Revolution faced a multifaceted crisis that threatened to overwhelm the Republic. In response the government instituted a revolutionary dictatorship and a 'reign of terror', with a Committee of Public Safety at its head. This book follows the Committee's deputies individually and collectively.

"Excellently documented... [O]ne of the best pictures that has ever been put together of the twelve men who made up [the] Committee of Public Safety... There is fine scholarship here."--New York Times "An excellent book on the administration of France by the great Committee of Public Safety... [Palmer] has made the members of the Committee living characters and the events of the period real occurrences."--American Political Science Review "A wonderful collective portrait of the Committee of Public safety; from the first sight of the room where they met at the Tuileries, you are plunged into the drama of their adventure."--Biancamaria Fontana, Times Higher Education