Maximilien Robespierre is a hero of the revolution and the executioner of his own comrades, a progressive liberator and a suspicious dictator, an "incorruptible" politician and a mad fanatic. Since his execution under the guillotine blade, Robespierre has transformed from a historical figure into a sinister legend. But is it possible to unequivocally characterize someone who, by his very nature, consisted of contradictions, cunning and incessant struggle? Can a new understanding of the actions and policies of an outstanding French revolutionary lead us to an understanding of his personality? Answering these and other questions, the authors of the book, historians Philippe Bourdin and Michel Biard, turn to the cultural and historical heritage of Robespierre. "It is necessary to study this man and his legacy over and over again for the sake of a better understanding, to work on his images, to nurture his memory, to deepen his historiography. He himself, most often unwittingly, inspired all this in the heat and tragedy of revolutionary events, in the collective unconscious, reproduced on the pages of national literature, taking into account political upheavals, with archival redundancy or, conversely, with deplorable understatement." (Philippe Bourdin, Michel Biard).