A Place of Greater Safety is a 1992 novel by Hilary Mantel. It concerns the events of the French Revolution, focusing on the lives of Georges Danton, Camille Desmoulins, and Maximilien Robespierre from their childhood through the execution of the Dantonists. The narrative features not only the perspectives of leading personalities of the French Revolution but also those of their wives, lovers, parents, and friends, supplemented by descriptions of ceremonies, conspiracies, street fights, trials, and debates in the National Convention and the Jacobin Club.

High tax burdens, poor harvests, and the newly won independence of the United States fueled calls in France for the abolition of the feudal system. In the spring of 1789, the Estates-General met for the first time within the framework of the National Assembly in Versailles to discuss the redistribution of power between the nobility, clergy, and the third estate. Maximilien Robespierre, a delegate of the third estate for the city of Arras, found allies in fellow lawyers Georges Danton and Camille Desmoulins. In the fight for their common cause, the three took on leading roles in the course of the French Revolution.

Desmoulins, in a passionate speech in a café, called on the already agitated and violence-ready crowd to arm themselves – two days later, the people stormed the Bastille. The tactically brilliant and morally flexible pragmatist Danton soon proved to be an important pillar for the First French Republic, which now had to defend itself against attacks from the remaining European monarchies. In the summer of 1792, Danton achieved a decisive victory in the First Coalition War against Austria and Prussia over the allied army, in part by bribing the Duke of Brunswick with the crown jewels. A year later, in the summer of 1793, Robespierre's great moment finally arrived: He took over the chairmanship of the Committee of Public Safety, which now functioned as the executive body of the National Convention, passed death sentences on opposition members, and sanctioned terror measures to suppress counter-revolutionary activities.

The first victims of the guillotine were the former king and queen, then various factions within the revolutionary party. Desmoulins had to watch with increasing horror as his pamphlets were quoted to condemn his friends and companions. He turned against the Reign of Terror in new pamphlets and thus became a target himself, as did Danton, around whom corruption allegations were gathering.

For a while, Robespierre managed to protect Danton and Desmoulins from the hostility of their political opponents, although he risked his own reputation in doing so. But Robespierre's own position eventually became increasingly precarious, while forces obsessed with ideological purity around him, such as Antoine de Saint-Just, gained influence. A rumor about another sexual misconduct by Danton finally gave Robespierre the reason to definitively break with his former friends and approve their execution.

In an interview, Mantel emphasized the importance of careful personal research using original sources for her working method, to develop her own perspective independent of conventional historical accounts; she expressed regret at not having become a historian herself. A high density of facts also characterizes the novel A Place of Greater Safety: many details are based on historical evidence. Mantel states that wherever possible, she used the original wording from the writings and speeches of the historical figures. However, the novel also contains many freely invented elements – especially regarding the protagonists' childhood in the French provinces and their later interpersonal entanglements. Mantel sets the course for their later careers in these imagined childhoods – explaining their political ambitions through early childhood experiences: Camille's rebellious streak stems from a difficult relationship with his own father; Robespierre early on sides with the disenfranchised because he (wrongly) suspects himself of being illegitimate; Danton's intimidating and daring aura is shaped by his imposing physical presence and face scarred from a childhood accident. By giving readers insight into the imagined childhood and psyche of these historical personalities, Mantel emphasizes the fictionality of her characters.

Fictional elements come to the foreground in the novel especially when it comes to elaborating the private lives of the characters. The blurring boundaries between fact and fiction, historical personality and fictional character lead to blurring boundaries between political and private spheres. Central events of the French Revolution – the storming of the Bastille, the flight to Varennes, the proclamation of the first French Republic, the trial of the king, the First Coalition War, the Reign of Terror – are not embedded within a comprehensive historical narrative, but presented as episodes in the private lives of the protagonists, especially in terms of their impact on their marriages, affairs, friendships, and lifestyles. The most consequential political decisions in the novel are made in private settings under the influence of personal emotions.

The flip side of the privatization of the political is the invasion of politics into the private – at the height of the Terror, entire families fall victim to the guillotine. Lucile Desmoulins is executed shortly after her husband, although she herself was never politically active. But before the bitter end comes adventure. Mantel tells the experience of living through a revolution as a private experience and thus captures the personal appeal of revolution for risk-seeking temperaments. In her portrayal, the revolution appears, if only at the beginning, as an exciting, stimulating, life-enriching experience that can be particularly attractive to already privileged people seeking an escape from their routines.