Ghjhero Posted July 2, 2017 Share Posted July 2, 2017 I know the standard outline and course of the French Revolution, mostly from school and references in other books I've read. However, I don't believe I've ever read a book about the revolution in full. Does anyone have any recommendations that would describe the history of the conflict, from its causes to its end? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manhole Eunuchsbane Posted July 2, 2017 Share Posted July 2, 2017 Citizens:A Chronicle of the French Revolution by Simon Schama was pretty damn good. A bit dense, but really interesting. https://www.amazon.com/Citizens-A-Chronicle-French-Revolution/dp/0679726101?SubscriptionId=AKIAIH6BKLR7M6KSMDGQ&tag=aboutcom02thoughtco-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=0679726101&ascsubtag=1221137|google.com|||88%2C84|1| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andorion Posted July 2, 2017 Share Posted July 2, 2017 I found William Doyle's The Oxford History of the French Revolution to be quite comprehensive and informative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astromech Posted July 2, 2017 Share Posted July 2, 2017 I'm posting with caveat that many of these are suggested further readings on the French Revolution Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution is a very good read, but the events of the French Revolution are really a backdrop for the personalities Schama chose to focus on. It's a narrative and the specifics of the French Revolution aren't heavily focused on. Lots of anecdotal history to make it a chronicle, which personalizes the people involved. Schama focuses a lot on the bloodiness of the Revolution. Kind of a Dickens A Tale of Two Cities take on it. Very entertaining though. Doyle's The Oxford History of the French Revolution is often the suggested the single-volume take on the FR. Probably the best place to start. Sir Edmund Burke's Reflections on the French Revolution Alexis de Tocqueville's The Old Regime and the French Revolution Georges Lefebvre was one of the major authorities on the French Revolution with several notable works on the subject. RR Palmer's Twelve Who Ruled: The Year of the Terror in the French Revolution, discusses the Committee of Public Safety Francois Furet's The French Revolution is a reinterpretation of the FR. A movement away from the classic interpretation. He wrote several works on the subject. Also treats the FR as two revolutions: the initial and then Napoleon's rise Of course there is also literature focusing on the subject or set during it: Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities Orczy's The Scarlet Pimpernel Hugo's Ninety-Three Mantel's A Place of Greater Safety Sabatini's Scaramouche just to name a few Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghjhero Posted July 2, 2017 Author Share Posted July 2, 2017 Thanks for the recommendations! For Citizens, when you compare it to A Tale of Two Cities, do you mean it's fiction? The reviews I've looked at seem to say otherwise. I think I'll probably take a look at that and Doyle's work as long as they're both nonfiction and are well written rather than droning on like textbooks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astromech Posted July 2, 2017 Share Posted July 2, 2017 20 minutes ago, Ghjhero said: Thanks for the recommendations! For Citizens, when you compare it to A Tale of Two Cities, do you mean it's fiction? The reviews I've looked at seem to say otherwise. I think I'll probably take a look at that and Doyle's work as long as they're both nonfiction and are well written rather than droning on like textbooks. No, not fiction. Schama's Citizens is a narrative history of the French Revolution, but his take on the FR is similar to Dickens' in how it was viewed with horror. Not completely, but that sentiment bleeds through in parts of Citizens. Citizens is a very good and fluid read. I am always selective of history books I choose to read. I am also one who can't stand reading anything overly academic in which the author's audience seems to be colleagues rather than general readers. It has to both inform me as well as entertain me. ETA: Hmm, with that being said maybe I should not have suggested Lefebvre or Furet unless you want an academic and interpretive analysis of the French Revolution. You can't go wrong with Schama or Doyle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghjhero Posted July 2, 2017 Author Share Posted July 2, 2017 In that case Citizens sounds exactly like what I'm looking for! Thanks for your advice, I appreciate it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astromech Posted July 2, 2017 Share Posted July 2, 2017 2 minutes ago, Ghjhero said: In that case Citizens sounds exactly like what I'm looking for! Thanks for your advice, I appreciate it. No problem. Another plus is Citizens is extremely easy to find. I always see it on shelves. I got my copy for $1 at Half Price Books. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghjhero Posted July 2, 2017 Author Share Posted July 2, 2017 Unfortunately I dont have any HPB stores by me, but i'll take $5.60 from Amazon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seli Posted July 2, 2017 Share Posted July 2, 2017 If you like audio, and would like an overview by an interested amateur there is also the revolutions podcast by Mike Duncan. Which went into the French revolution between episode 3.1 in (fittingly) july 2014 until november 2015 with episode 3.55. http://www.revolutionspodcast.com/2014/07/31-the-three-estates-.html http://www.revolutionspodcast.com/2015/11/355-the-retrospective.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zorral Posted July 3, 2017 Share Posted July 3, 2017 On 7/2/2017 at 2:33 AM, Manhole Eunuchsbane said: Citizens:A Chronicle of the French Revolution by Simon Schama was pretty damn good. A bit dense, but really interesting. https://www.amazon.com/Citizens-A-Chronicle-French-Revolution/dp/0679726101?SubscriptionId=AKIAIH6BKLR7M6KSMDGQ&tag=aboutcom02thoughtco-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=0679726101&ascsubtag=1221137|google.com|||88%2C84|1| Actually, it's fairly poor, focused so much on printing and never even, for one instance, including the slave rebellion on San Domingue, that ulitimately was successful, and did so much to bring down the French revolution per se, and then Napoleon and the empire -- and, of course, allow the petering out of the war between the young US and Britain, and the acquisition of the Louisiana Territory. The Black Jacobins remains one of the very best books on the subject still. In some way, though it is fiction one of the best books to get a real grasp of it is a novel, by Hllary Mantel, A Place of Greater Safety. It gives the reader a real sense of the personalities involved in the revolution. Let us not confuse the Revolution and what succeeded it, generally referred to as the Terror, with what then succeeded that, Napoleon, and finally the Empire. The thing is, that just like the War of US Independence or the US Civil War, this was a huge, globe-spanning series of actions that went on for a very long, affected all nations, and no single book can give a whole picture -- and a person needs to put in some serious time to understand it. I am speaking, alas, from experience here! My speciality is US history, but it cannot be understood without the French Revolution and Napoleon, and that is huge, so I've spent years reading accounts of all kinds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghjhero Posted July 3, 2017 Author Share Posted July 3, 2017 23 minutes ago, Zorral said: Actually, it's fairly poor, focused so much on printing and never even, for one instance, including the slave rebellion on San Domingue, that ulitimately was successful, and did so much to bring down the French revolution per se, and then Napoleon and the empire -- and, of course, allow the petering out of the war between the young US and Britain, and the acquisition of the Louisiana Territory. The Black Jacobins remains one of the very best books on the subject still. In some way, though it is fiction one of the best books to get a real grasp of it is a novel, by Hllary Mantel, A Place of Greater Safety. It gives the reader a real sense of the personalities involved in the revolution. Let us not confuse the Revolution and what succeeded it, generally referred to as the Terror, with what then succeeded that, Napoleon, and finally the Empire. The thing is, that just like the War of US Independence or the US Civil War, this was a huge, globe-spanning series of actions that went on for a very long, affected all nations, and no single book can give a whole picture -- and a person needs to put in some serious time to understand it. I am speaking, alas, from experience here! My speciality is US history, but it cannot be understood without the French Revolution and Napoleon, and that is huge, so I've spent years reading accounts of all kinds. I agree immensely. That's why I asked (but should've been more specific) for an account of the revolution from beginning to end. It seems to me that the Revolution never so much ended as morphed into something else quickly and then something else again. How far does Citizens go? Does it encompass the Terrors? I'm very interested to learn more about that period. I assume The Black Jacobins covers the slave revolt, Napoleon, the empire and the acquisition of the Louisiana Territory? If not, what would be other books to learn more about what came after the revolution that includes the topics you mentioned? ETA: Just realized Black Jacobins refers to race and not to soul. Whoops Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astromech Posted July 4, 2017 Share Posted July 4, 2017 2 hours ago, Ghjhero said: How far does Citizens go? Does it encompass the Terrors? I'm very interested to learn more about that period. Citizens ends with the Terror, specifically Robespierre's execution. So a number of important events following July 1794 are not discussed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghjhero Posted July 4, 2017 Author Share Posted July 4, 2017 1 hour ago, Astromech said: Citizens ends with the Terror, specifically Robespierre's execution. So a number of important events following July 1794 are not discussed. What notable events occur afterwards? This time period in European history is not my strong suit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astromech Posted July 4, 2017 Share Posted July 4, 2017 You have the Directory, Consulate and then Empire following the Terror. A number of uprisings scattered throughout. The whole period up to Napoleon's empire(and one could argue until the current Fifth Republic) was one of instability. Your post above about the FR never really ending but morphing into something else is spot on. It's also part of what makes the French Revolution a vastly interesting subject. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghjhero Posted July 4, 2017 Author Share Posted July 4, 2017 Agreed. I'm excited to dive on in and learn some more. Once I read Citizens I'll have to find it's chronological "sequel" and keep going from there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord of Oop North Posted July 12, 2017 Share Posted July 12, 2017 On 7/2/2017 at 4:42 PM, Seli said: If you like audio, and would like an overview by an interested amateur there is also the revolutions podcast by Mike Duncan. Which went into the French revolution between episode 3.1 in (fittingly) july 2014 until november 2015 with episode 3.55. http://www.revolutionspodcast.com/2014/07/31-the-three-estates-.html http://www.revolutionspodcast.com/2015/11/355-the-retrospective.html +1 Great podcast! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usul Posted July 13, 2017 Share Posted July 13, 2017 i'll check on books but here a graphic novel arround that period : http://www.turbopix.fr/i/zjok7jT2tn.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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