Small-town Martyrs and Murderers

"On March 11, 1793, about a thousand counterrevolutionary rebels converged on the small French town of Machecoul and over the next six weeks killed many of its revolutionary officials and supporters. The massacres at Machecoul marked the beginning of a popular insurgency in western France called the War of Vendee, in turn igniting the ferocious republican response known today as the Terror. This story explores why these small-town massacres occurred, how they may have unfolded, and what the local and national repercussions of the murders were."--BOOK JACKET.