The Rose Of Versailles is a manga written and illustrated by Riyoko Ikeda from 1972 to 1973. It is a historical drama set before and during the French Revolution.

It follows the story of Oscar Francois de Jarjayes, a fictitious captain of the Royal Guard, born a girl but raised as a boy by her father. It touches the themes of Oscar's complicated relationship with love and her desire to be independent living as a man as well as her friendship with the Queen of France Marie Antoinette, but ultimately it's about how much the french peasants are dying of hunger and such. It is ultimately a work that Riyoko Ikeda wrote after becoming involved with Japan's New Left as a member of the Communist Party of Japan.

Click on the red rose below to access a really interesting old site I found about BeruBara. It's mostly in italian and it's kind of broken cause it's old as fuck BUT it has many pages in english and a lot of documented information about the manga, anime and other related projects.