Tocqueville's father, jailed with them, escaped only because the guillotine caught up with Robespierre first.

ECONOMIST: Liberty and democracy

By the war's end France was bankrupt, clearing the way for Robespierre and his heavies.

ECONOMIST: America's Founding Fathers

For Maximilien Robespierre, chief architect of the reign of terror that followed the revolution, God and religion were far too useful in keeping the population in line.

ECONOMIST: Atheism and the Enlightenment

Gelb is, of necessity, more Mirabeau than Robespierre.

NEWYORKER: Man Behind the Curtain