Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
The Day of The Guillotine: Bastille, 14 July 1789

The Day of The Guillotine: Bastille, 14 July 1789

Arden, Jd

Paperback

Series: Days That Made History

French HistoryGeneral World History

ISBN13: 9798264117862
Publisher: Independently Published
Published: Sep 6 2025
Pages: 116
Weight: 0.36
Height: 0.24 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
The Bastille fell on 14 July 1789. The guillotine did not exist yet. How did one lead to the other? The Day of the Guillotine goes back to the witnesses: Jefferson, Gouverneur Morris, the British ambassador, the Swiss lieutenant Louis de Flue, and the historians who have read them since. It tells the day itself, then follows the road from the fortress to the machine, and says plainly where the sources stop. What you will find inside:
  • The bread crisis of 1788 and 1789 and the rising of July
  • The fortress, its legend and the seven prisoners actually inside
  • Sunday and Monday: the dismissal of Necker, the wax busts and the burning of the customs posts
  • The fourteenth hour by hour, with the disagreements set side by side
  • The killings after the surrender, and the heads on pikes
  • The King, the demolition and the man who sold the stones as souvenirs
  • Dr Guillotin, Dr Louis and the machine, from the proposal of 1789 to the first use in 1792
  • What the blade did, and what became of the people of the Bastille story
The book names its sources, says when it is relying on an encyclopedia summary, and keeps the evidence apart from the legend. It does not claim that the Bastille caused the Terror, and it explains what historians have said about that question. A closing chapter, What We Don't Know, lists the open questions, and Sources and Further Reading points you to the documents and studies to read next. Written for readers who want the real story told with pace and a plain voice. No history degree required. Scroll up and read the first chapter.

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