The Gods are Athirst

Published in 1912, The Gods Are Athirst is set during the French Revolution. The novel describes the dark years of the Reign of Terror in Paris from the perspective of a fictional painter named Evariste Gamelin, Robespierre's most faithful servant. Because of his loyalty, Gamelin is selected to become a juror on the Revolutionary Tribunal, a powerful engine for the Reign of Terror that tried "political offenders" with death as the sole penalty. Eventually, after sentencing many of his peers to death, Gamelin finds himself going insane, unable to serve Robespierre any longer and madly in love with a young woman who does not share his affections. The novel ends with the Thermidorian Reaction, the vote of the National Convention to execute Robespierre and many other leading members of the Terror.