The French Revolution

A companion volume to his previous "lightning biography" of Napoleon, this book is an outline of the overall shape and impact of the French Revolution, with references given for deeper study. It is a deliberately short and approachable work, suitable for those reading about the French Revolution for the first time, or looking for an overview of the main events and significance of this great historical cataclysm.


By : Robert Matteson Johnston (1867 - 1920)

00 - Preface



01 - The Perspective of the French Revolution



02 - Versailles



03 - Economic Crisis



04 - Convocation of the States General



05 - France comes to Versailles



06 - From Versailles to Paris



07 - The Assembly Demolishes Privilege



08 - The Flight to Varennes



09 - War Breaks Out



10 - The Massacres



11 - Ending the Monarchy



12 - The Fall of the Gironde



13 - The Reign of Terror



14 - Thermidor



15 - The Last Days of the Convention



16 - The Directoire



17 - Art and Literature


The object of this book is similar to that with which, a few years ago, I wrote a short biography of Napoleon. The main outlines of the Revolution, the proportion and relation of things, tend to become obscured under the accumulation of historical detail that is now proceeding. This is an attempt, therefore, to disentangle from the mass of details the shape, the movement, the significance of this great historical cataclysm. To keep the outline clear I have deliberately avoided mentioning the names of many subordinate actors; thinking that if nothing essential was connected with them the mention of their names would only tend to confuse matters. Similarly with incidents, I have omitted a few, such as the troubles at Avignon, and changed the emphasis on others, judging freely their importance and not following the footsteps of my predecessors, as in the case of the capture of the Bastille, the importance of which was vastly exaggerated by early writers on the subject.

The end of the Revolution I place at Brumaire,—as good a date as any, though like all others, open to criticism. The present narrative, however, will be found to merge into that of my Napoleon, which forms its natural continuation after that date.

Comments

Random Post