The book opens with the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in sixteen eighty-five, signed by Louis XIV. under pressure from his Jesuit confessor and Madame de Maintenon. This act stripped Protestants of their civil rights, outlawed their worship, and subjected them to severe persecutions, banishments, and death. Smiles details the civil death of the Protestant population, the systematic destruction of their temples, and the brutal forced conversions carried out by the dragoons through torture and imprisonment.
Despite the extreme violence and the efforts to extinguish the Reformed faith, a vast number of the poorer Huguenots remained in France because they lacked the means to emigrate. These peasants and artisans were forced into a subterranean life of religious endurance. They gathered by night in remote caves, valleys, and forests, creating what they called the Church in the Desert, to worship God in secret according to their conscience.
The narrative follows the courageous life and martyrdom of Claude Brousson, a Huguenot advocate from Nismes who abandoned a peaceful life in exile to return to France. Brousson traversed the perilous mountain districts, organizing assemblies, reading the scriptures, and preaching to the persecuted flocks. His steadfast devotion eventually led to his capture and public execution on the Peyrou at Montpellier, where he sealed his faith with his blood.
The later chapters trace the rising discontent of the mountaineers of the Cevennes against the relentless cruelties of local persecutors like the archpriest Chayla. The murder of Chayla by Pierre Seguier's band ignited the Camisard insurrection. These humble peasants, neatherds, and wool-carders organized a guerrilla resistance that baffled and defeated the finest royal armies of France for years.
The Camisard leaders, including Roland, Salomon, Castanet, and the youthful military genius John Cavalier, successfully utilized the rugged terrain and natural caverns of the Cevennes to launch surprise attacks and sustain their rebellion. Through strategic victories at Martinargues and elsewhere, they proved that a determined people could temporarily stand against tyranny, though they were eventually worn down by overwhelming military force and devastation.
The narrative concludes with the suppression of the insurrection under Marshal Villars, who combined clemency with military power to end the civil war. Many surviving Protestants were forced into exile or condemned to lifelong servitude as galley-slaves for their faith. Smiles demonstrates how the virtues of industry, piety, and valour enabled the Huguenots and their descendants to survive persecution and enrich the nations where they found refuge.
