A bit far fetched ...

It is obvious that Anatole France was held to place his characters in all "classical" situations of the Revolution (which he assumes a very solid knowledge on the part of the reader): queuing outside the bakery, the Section, the Tribunal, the prison, the truck, of course the guillotine ... Result: the plot seems rather artificially composed scenes and many feel the history textbook for college. Most of the characters, too, are types.

Still, this is a pretty nice way to study history and to hear comments, especially when contemplating the character of Gamelin, idealistic young man (at least initially) but selfish and stupid that leaves very easily transform into a monster once we give it a bit of power over others. These proto-monsters exist in millions all over the world and there are only the frail civilization to retain them. It collapsed and Gamelin immediately out of their hole and make the blood flow. (At this point one of them is called Mugabe.)

In fact, what struck me most in this novel are the thoughts of Gamelin on his way to rendezvous with the inevitable guillotine. He said, he always said with a horrible sincerity, he is working to bring an era where men embrace with brotherly love. Looks good, is not it, for those who want men to embrace with brotherly love, the best idea is to set an example by fraternally embracing men. But Gamelin like Robespierre idolize it, before kissing fraternally one man must be beheaded most of them since only the righteous have the right to live or to be kissed ...

Beware of revolutionaries, they always end up being convinced that they alone have the right to live. They, or person Robespierre wanted to commit suicide, as Gamelin.