Mémoires authentiques de Latude, écrites par lui au donjon de Vincennes et à Charenton

Born in a modest Languedoc village to an unwed mother, the future chronicler grew up weaving cloth and devouring any scraps of learning he could find. By seventeen he had secured a place as a surgeon‑assistant in the royal army, a role that, while modest, offered a steady income and a glimpse of respectable society. His ambition carried him from the battlefields of the Rhine to a post in Brussels, and a handful of commendations eventually led him to the bustling streets of Paris, where he could be seen strolling the Tuileries in his grey coat and red vest, a young man full of promise.

The narrative then turns sharply inward, as the author recounts his sudden entanglement in the capricious machinery of an oppressive regime. Written within the stone walls of Vincennes and later Charenton, these memoirs blend stark factual detail with a vivid personal voice, exposing the daily humiliations endured by a man caught in the gears of despotism. Listeners will find a rare, contemporaneous portrait of injustice that still resonates, offering both historical insight and a moving, human story of resilience.