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 | | The Days of the French Revolution by Christopher Hibbert ISBN-10: 9780688169787 ISBN-10: 0-688-16978-3 ISBN-13: 9780688169787 ISBN-13: 978-0-688-16978-7 Paperback 1999-07-07 Harper Perennial Find Lowest Price |
Editorials | ||
Product Description Works from Les Misirables by Victor Hugo to Citizens by Simon Schama have been inspired by the French Revolution. Now available for the first time in years, The Days of the French Revolution brings to life the events that changed the future of Western civilization. As compelling as any fiction thriller, this real-life drama moves from the storming of the Bastille to the doomed court of Louis XVI, the salon of Madame Roland, and even the boudoir of Marie Antoinette. Hibbert recounts the events that swirled around Napoleon, Mirabeau, Danton, Marat, and Robespierre with eyewitness accounts and his "usual grace and flair for divulging interesting detail" (Booklist). This trade paperback edition has twenty-eight pages of black-and-white illustrations, and will be published in time for Bastille Day. | ||
Amazon.com Review "Never was any such event so inevitable yet so completely unforeseen." Alexis de Tocqueville's 19th-century assessment of the French Revolution echoes the contemporary reaction to the monumental events that took place over 200 years ago. Christopher Hibbert's superb historical narrative The Days of the French Revolution captures de Tocqueville's immediacy but tempers it with the hindsight of history. Detailing events from the meeting of the Estates General at Versailles in 1789 to the coup d'état that brought Napoleon to power 10 years later, The Days of the French Revolution captures the passion and ferocity motivating the events and the individuals that most dramatically shaped the Revolution. Originally published in 1990, The Days of the French Revolution maintains its supremacy among the plethora of French Revolution histories. An acclaimed author of over 25 historical and biographical studies, Hibbert presents complexly related events in a logical, readable format and supplies plenty of historical background and detail without sacrificing clarity or narrative flow. He writes for the general reader unfamiliar with Revolution history, introducing them to individuals as diverse as Marie Antoinette, the young lawyer Danton, the journalist Marat, and the Girondin, sans-culotte and extremist Enragé political factions, weaving their fates together, and adeptly illustrating how they influenced the Revolution and how the Revolution, in turn, changed their lives. Maps, illustrations, a chronology of principle events, a glossary, and a list of major sources supplement Hibbert's eight chronologically ordered chapters, and his prologue, which focuses on the reign of Louis XVI, sets the scene for the events of 1789. At the same time entertaining and informative, The Days of the French Revolution allows its readers to forget that they are reading a book of history. --Bertina Loeffler Sedlack | ||
Reviews | ||
Vivre le...huh? In spite of the author's claim that this book is not for students, but aimed at casual readers with no knowledge of the history of the French Revolution, I found this to be not the case. By focusing on the "Days" of the Revolution, this book cries out for a context that is sorely lacking and ultimately a fatal flaw. Without an understanding of the French, the all too frequent use of French phrases adds to the muddle. The glossary included is not much help. All in all, a big disappointment. Dry to a fault. | ||
le chicken courdon blu This is a very good book about the revolting French. It shows just how revolting they were. | ||
The days of the french revolution Outstanding work - well written and precise in detail without being boring Good Buy ! Z | ||
A solid overview to the French Revolution I enjoy reading history, but French history is one are where I have not read a lot. I've read this volume and two others on the revolution and found this book to be highly very readable and to provide a very good overview of the revolution. Obviously, because of its length, it cannot go into great detail on any of the specific events, but Hibbert provides enough background so that the events are meaningful and hang together - something that was not true of another treatment of the revolution that I read. The two strengths that I see of the volume is its readability - Hibbert is an excellent writer - and its coverage of the revolution itself. After reading the volume, the reader has a very good overview of the revolution. I would say that perhaps the one weakness of the volume is that I would have liked to have seen a little more of the context surrounding the revolution. Specifically, I could have used a bit more on what had occurred in France leading up the this period. Hibbert provides backgroud but I personally would have liked a little more. Also, a little more about what was going on in the rest of Europe and England would have been helpful. Again, Hibbert provides some of this, but I found it to be somewhat disjointed. I think more context would have helped in understanding why some of the events unfolded the way they did. | ||
Excellent read (or reread, in my case). I had read this book ages ago but it's worth a reread. He really explains the Revolution in great detain (starting with the downfall of the King and Queen rather than going all the way back. For that, read Antonia Fraser's book. But it does clarify who's who and what's what (like who and what the Jacobins were) and the Girondists, etc. People like Marat, Miraceau, Danton, Robespierre are brought to life. This is a great beginner's book that goes down like cream. | ||