Becoming a Revolutionary [Hardcover]

Timothy Tackett (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1996

Here Timothy Tackett tests some of the diverse explanations of the origins of the French Revolution by examining the psychological itineraries of the individuals who launched it - the deputies of the Estates General and the National Assembly. Based on a wide variety of sources, notably the letters and diaries of over a hundred deputies, the book assesses their collective biographies and their cultural and political experience before and after 1789. In the face of the current "revisionist" orthodoxy, it argues that members of the Third Estate differed dramatically from the Nobility in wealth, status, and culture. Virtually all deputies were familiar with some elements of the Enlightenment, yet little evidence can be found before the Revolution of a coherent oppositional "ideology" or "discourse". Far from the inexperienced ideologues depicted by the revisionists, the Third Estate deputies emerge as practical men, more attracted to law, history, and science than to abstract philosophy. Insofar as they received advance instruction in the possibility of extensive reform, it came less from reading books than from involvement in municipal and regional politics and from the actions and decrees of the monarchy itself. Before their arrival in Versailles, few deputies envisioned changes that could be construed as "Revolutionary". Such new ideas emerged primarily in the process of the Assembly itself and continued to develop, in many cases, throughout the first year of the Revolution.

Editorial Reviews

Review

By exhaustive and resourceful combing of archives and libraries throughout France, Tackett has unearthed far more evidence about the views of the members of the National Assembly than anybody before him.... In every sense, this book shows that, even on topics about which we thought we knew everything, the last word has not been said. --William Doyle, Journal of Modern History"

A major contribution to the history of the French Revolution. --Sarah Maza, Journal of Interdisciplinary History

Narratives abound of France's first legislature, the Estates General of 1789, which became the Constituent Assembly of 1789-1791. None involve the detailed research that this coherent, collective biography of its total 1,315 deputies represents. Timothy Tackett has combed the public and private archives of France to find over 150 separate collections of deputies' correspondence. Tackett's book is essential reading for anyone interested in the origins of that revolutionary France. --Emmet Kennedy, The American Historical Review --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From the Publisher

Winner of the Leo Gershoy Prize from the American Historical Association, 1998, for the best book in Early Modern European History. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 360 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press (April 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691043841
• ISBN-13: 978-0691043845
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,948,605 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Re-revisionist History, March 26, 2000

By 

"[e-mail]" (St. Louis, MO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Becoming a Revolutionary (Hardcover)

Almost no event in history has been as controversial as the French Revolution. The debate between Marxist and Revisionist theory has been waged since Cobban first challenged Lefebvre's ideas. In reaction to the many Revisionist theories that have been developed over the past decades (Doyle, Taylor, Furet), Timothy Tackett's book represents a critical look at the differences that exist within the Revisionist school, in particular examining exactly who the deputies of Estates-General in 1789 were and what motives they held. The book relates the careers of the deputies (from all orders) prior to the Revolution, how each deputy perceived the events of 1789, and how they dealt with their subsequent transformation into national legislators by 1790. As an undergraduate student writing a thesis on the question of the aristocracy's role in the origins of the Revolution, this books offers a wealth of valuable information concerning the deputies who came to form the Estates-General. Just about every member, at least those we have accounts of, is represented within the book; the book contains an extensive amount of primary source material. I think overall this is a wonderful book, and I was pleased with the treatment of the aristocracy in general.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hits revisionism below the waterline., July 31, 2000

By 

[e-mail] (Edmonton, Alberta Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Becoming a Revolutionary (Hardcover)

This excellent book has many virtues. In contrast to such recent sparsely annotated works by Sutherland, Schama, Doyle and Rude, Tackett has examined the diaries and correspondence of 129 members of the National Assembly in what is undoubtedly the most thorough examination of that body. The book is in three parts, the first of which discusses the background deputies. Interestingly, Tackett notes sharp differences between nobles and bourgeois, with the former clearly more wealthy, with an overwhelmingly military backgroun, and less secondary education than the third estate. More important are the next two chapters which should dispel once and for all the Tocquevillian idea that the third estate deputies were inexperienced legilators with no real knowledge of politics and besotted with abstract philosophe systems. For a start, intellectuals did rather badly in the elections, with Condorcet defeated and Abbe Sieyes coming in twentieth out of twenty deputies. Perhaps 4% of third estate deputies were academicians of some sort. Many deputies had published works of some sort, but sober legal treatistes and mildly anti-clerical stories were more typical than any kind of philosophe intransigence. Likewise as a result of muncipal participation and political mobilization, "the deputies of the third esate were substantially more experienced in day to day governmental activities that many of the military aristocrats who predominated in the Noble Estate."

Contrary to more teleological interpretations, Tackett noted that most deputies sincerely supported the king and were not particularly democratic. As for the actual work of the assembly, Tackett portrays it as a moderate body consistently pushed forward by the pressure of events. They went out of their way not to hurt the feelings of the noble deputies before the stormig of the Bastille and most were clearly horrified at the lynchings of Berthier and Foulon. Tackett also provides an interesting and judicious discussion of such topics as the founding of political factions, the art of oratory, the development of constituency relations, and the organization of the assembly.

A crucial element here was the nobility, who were not a liberal lot, notwithstanding the arguments of such scholars as Simon Schama. "The majority was strongly penetrated with a military, even feudal sense of honor of duty. There were frequent references in their writings and speecehes to models of noble courage and chivalry from the past." They managed to limit the fallout of August 4, and successfully arranged a suspensive veto for the king, which would delay legislation for four years. Tackett notes that one reason why the National Assembly refused to create a bicameral assembly was because many nobles feared being dominated by their superiors in their order. After June 1790 the second estate became increasingly hostile and impotent and one fifth of them would emigrate. Ultimately the national assembly had some flaws, such as the failure to fully abolish peasant dues, to limit the vote, and to unwisely reorganize the church. But Tackett rightfully denies that the Assembly was warped by ideology and puts the blame where it firmly belongs: on a constitutional monarch who refused to play by his own constitutional rules.

4.0 out of 5 stars Very valuable and interesting, November 18, 2010

By 

Chris "Bostonian at heart" (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Becoming a Revolutionary: The Deputies of the French National Assembly and the Emergence of a Revolutionary Culture (1789 - 1790) (Paperback)

Yes, this is a scholarly work on the French Revolution, but don't let that discourage you. Tackett is really a fantastic writer as well as historian, and this book is quite good.

Tackett studies the deputies who comprised the National Assembly in 1789 and early 1790. He looks into claims of past historian that these men were politically green and Enlightenment-driven ideologues, and he picks apart both of those assertions. He uses exhaustive research to show that many of the deputies had a good amount of experience in local government as mayors and municipal officials, and even many of the clergy deputies were involved in church administration. He also finds very little evidence of the deputies being driven by Rousseau and other Enlightenment philosophes.

The first couple of chapters of the book are fairly slow because Tackett uses a great deal of statistics from his research to illustrate his points. It makes for somewhat slow reading because it's so detailed, but the info is valuable, so it's worth sticking around. Then about a third of the way through, it really picks up. His description of August 4 and the king's early 1790 speech were especially fantastic.

Certainly someone looking for an introduction on the French Revolution would be better off with Popkin's short history, or even Lefebvre's classic "Coming of the French Revolution." But if you have the background, this book is worth your time, and you don't need to be a doctoral student to get through it.