Sylvain Maréchal, The Godless Man

Book excerpt: The first book by the great French radical historian Maurice Dommanget (1888–1976) to be translated into English, this book is an engaging, sympathetic telling of the life and works of Sylvain Maréchal (1750–1803), an unjustly forgotten figure of the French Revolutionary era. Maréchal was not only a militant atheist and opponent of royalty, but, as the author of the Manifesto of the Equals he laid the groundwork for modern communism. With an introduction by Jean-Numa Ducange.