Against the ... backdrop of the French Revolution, [this book] follows the trajectory of Robespierre's paradoxical life, from his modest beginnings as a provincial lawyer to his emergence as a devastatingly efficient revolutionary leader. [It] explores his reformist zeal, his role in the fall of the monarchy, his passionate attempt to design a modern republic, [and his] effort to found a perfect religion. And [it] follows him into the depths of the Terror, as [Robespierre] makes summary execution the order of the day, himself falling victim to the violence at the age of thirty-six. -Back cover.