The Oxford History of the French Revolution

by William Doyle (Other)

Overview

The Oxford History of the French Revolution has established itself as the most authoritative and comprehensive one-volume history of its kind. Opening with the accession of Louis XVI in 1774, it traces the history of France through revolution, terror, and counter-terror, to the triumph of Napoleon in 1802, and analyses the impact of events in France upon the rest of Europe. William Doyle shows how a movement which began with optimism and general enthusiasm soon became a tragedy, not only for the ruling orders, but for the millions of ordinary people all over Europe whose lives were disrupted by religious upheaval, and civil and international war. Fully updated, this new edition features an expanded bibliographical survey of the literature dealing with the Revolution, including the most important material to have been written on the subject since the publication of the first edition.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780191039317
Publisher:	Oxford Paperbacks
Publication date:	07/26/1990
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

William Doyle is Professor of History and Chairman of the School of History at the University of Bristol. He is author of Origins of the French Revolution, praised by Historian as "an impressive piece of historical writing and an important contribution to French revolutionary scholarship."

Table of Contents

France under Louis XVI; A crisis of confidence; The collapse of Government, 1776-1788; The Estates-General, September 1788-July 1789; The principles of 1789 and the reform of France; The breakdown of revolutionary concensus, 1790-1792; Europe and the Revolution, 1788-1791; The Republican Revolution, 1791-January 1793; War against Europe, 1792-1797; The revolt of the Provinces; Government by terror, 1793-1794; Thermidor, 1794-1795; Counter-revolution, 1789-1795; The directory, 1795-1799; Occupied Europe, 1794-1799; An end to Revolution, 1799-1802; The Revolution in perspective; chronology; annotated list of further reading

Editorial Reviews

"Traditional, scholarly, narrative history...a clear and balanced picture of the origins of the Revolution."—The New York Times Book Review

"A fair, and remarkably complete, account of both the Revolution itself and the years that preceded it...a book that sets itself to cover an immense amount of ground and ends with a clear and well-balanced final chapter in which he outlines the many gains, and the often heavy cost, of the revolutionary years ...thorough and scholarly appraisal of French cultural values."—New York Newsday

Review from previous edition... "An outstanding model of clarity and informed scholarship."—Simon Schama, New Republic

"Doyle's book, in its readability, its clarity and its balance, is certainly the best of the general studies of the Revolution that have recently appeared; it will appeal both to the general reader and to the historian. And it deals with the subject, rather than with those who have already written about it."—Richard Griffiths, Times Higher Educational Supplement (UK)

"A work of breath-taking range which deserves to reach a wide popular market. It is the fullest history to appear of the Revolutionary era, of the events preceding it and of its impact on a wider world. Masterfully written."—The Observer (UK)

From the Publisher