Books on the French Revolution

[Sasaki Kojiro]

I recently read an 1830 french book (the red and the black) and found that many of the references went right over my head...are there any good histories of the french revolution out there?

I googled to try and find one but haven't had much luck. The most reviewed on Amazon is "citizens" by simon schama but I don't trust him much because his bbc series on the power of art was pretty silly.

Am I better off with a series of books about the key figures instead of a book on the overall history?

[GeneralHankerchief]

I'm a big fan of R. R. Palmer's Twelve Who Ruled and would recommend it to anyone as long as you know what you're getting into. First of all, it's not so much an overview of the entire Revolution so much as the Reign of Terror. Second of all, it's more of a narrative history (don't know if that's your style or not, but I like it) that focuses on the men on the Committee for Public Safety. Third, the book's a little old but still holds up quite well IMHO.

Trying to think of more general histories and will probably get back to you on it, but Twelve Who Ruled is definitely a good place to start if you're into the Terror.

[Fragony]

Which one

[Conradus]

Napoleon in Egypt is a pretty decent book about Napoleon's Egyptian campaign.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Thanks...I'd thought about checking out the oxford one.

I like the look of RR Palmers other book on the broader 1760-1800 period too...might even read that one before the others.

Since the next stendhal book I have ready to read at some point says it starts just before waterloo I will probably go for some books on the military history as well.

Just noticed these from the book recommendations thread too:

"Fatal Purity" by Ruth Scurr is an excellent analysis and portrait of Maximilien Robespierre and his influences on the Revolution. Most histories of Robespierre are rather histrionic, but this is a well-balanced account that illuminates more of the man - and thus makes the monstrosity of his actions both understandable and, sadly inevitable. One appreciates how the idealist, L'Incorruptible, marches unstintingly towards the lake of blood waiting at the Place de la Concorde.

"1812 Napoleon's Fatal March on Moscow" by Adam Zamoyski is the most readable account of that astonishing endeavour - an excellent narrative history that communicates the full horror of the war and mistakes on both sides.

Finally, "Napoleon 1814: The Defence of France" by Andrew Uffindell addresses what I believe to be the Emperor's greatest campaign of all. Though ultimately lost, the rearguard action with few troops on the doorstep of Paris against the combined armies of the European Coalition is an absolute masterpiece of tactical brilliance. The use of terrain, speed and misdirection - all Napoleon's greatest contributions to military thinking are described here in detail as well as the aspect often missed in campaign accounts: the effect on the civilian population. The Hardback is worth investing in, if only because the dust-jacket bears a reproduction of the most eloquent painting of the entire epoch, Meissonier's 1814 Campagne de France.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Just finished R.R. Palmer's "The age of democratic revolution: 1760-1800"...thanks for the pointer GH, I loved the book. Very in depth at 1000+ pages, he really gives a broad perspective of underlying causes. He goes into the egalitarian/democratic movements in geneva, the netherlands, hungary, bohemia, italy, russia, poland, sweden, ireland, britain, and of course the US and france. Really helps you understand the differences between the US and the French. I think before reading it I was biased towards a kind of British perspective on it. Probably a lot of our views of European history are biased by the british perspective...


Of course, he does assume you know a lot of other things, the kind of stuff that is in the regular history books of the french revolution. So I still have some to read.


edit:

Knowing what I know now (having read further) it seems to me that this palmer guy is a hack. From what I remember of the book he has a lot of strange and ignorant biases that he is not up front about.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Read "Napoleon" by Felix Markham, seemed like a good overview of his life. Will probably get a lengthier book at some point.

[TinCow]

The most reviewed on Amazon is "citizens" by simon schama but I don't trust him much because his bbc series on the power of art was pretty silly.

I've read Citizens and thought it was very thorough. It is highly academic and really attempts to dissect the underlying causes of the Revolution, with honest portrayals of the main actors. My main criticism of it is that it is extremely dry. It is not a 'popular' history by any means, and the first third of the book or so (where he explains the historical background that set up the state of affairs before the ball got rolling) is a bit of a slog. That said, I taught me a lot and I felt it was very objective, though apparently it has been criticized by some for being too negative regarding the violence of the Revolution. Schama certainly does take that stance, but it's a stance he takes while simultaneously pointing out the non-violent paths that the Revolution could have taken instead. I do recommend it if you don't mind the academic slog at the beginning. Be aware that it is very narrowly focused on the Revolution itself, there is nothing whatsoever about the Revolutionary Wars.