21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brief though Comprehensive, March 18, 2005
This review is from: The French Revolution: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) (Paperback)
For those interested in a brilliant overview of the French revolution, written concisely, combining narrative and competent analysis, including a comprehensive time line and a noteworthy bibliography, Doyle's A Very Short Introduction, is well worth your investment and time.
One of the more difficult writing tasks is to summarize an important and complicated historical event such as the French revolution, with any competence or erudition. Doyle's essay touches upon all aspects of the revolution's origins of development, including major personages, ideologies and significant events that contributed to its beginnings, processes and the revolution's present legacy in terms of its significant influence on society to present time.
In the first chapter, Echoes, Doyle proposes that one cannot look at France or visit the country without seeing some aspect of the revolution. The Eiffel Tower, for instance, was the centrepiece of the great exhibition that marked the first centenary in 1889. He continues,
"Nobody who lived in France, or visited it, could avoid these echoes, or echoes of Napoleon, who had marched under the tricolour, had tamed and harnessed the energies unleashed by the revolution, and whose nephew Napoleon III had ruled for 22 years before the Third Republic was established. (P.2)
Doyle tackles this project in six comprehensive chapters. "Echoes" - the influence of the revolution that can be seen in all aspects of society, socially and politically; "Why it Happened" - the wide and varied reasons as to why the revolution occurred; "How it Happened" - events such as the Reign of Terror, and the establishment of a National Sovereignty, the many reforms, civil war and the wars abroad, ending with the rise and influence of Napoleon the First; "What it Ended" - the Monarchy, the fall of the Nobility and the Church; "What it Started" - a democratic system, an assertion of National Sovereignty...."not kings, not hereditary elites, not churches were the supreme source of authority in human affairs." (P.81) And lastly, "Where it Stands" - how we view the revolution in present time, i.e., the classic interpretation, the revisionist and post revisionist interpretations, and its significance today.
If one were starting a comprehensive study of the French revolution, this comprehensive essay, a little over one hundred pages, would be an advisable place to begin. The literature on this subject is enormous, thus Doyle gives us a list of further reading from General Surveys, Origins, Interpretations to People and Legacies.
This little book is highly recommended for the student, amateur historian or the simply curious.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Everything the title says it is, July 8, 2005
This review is from: The French Revolution: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) (Paperback)
I majored in history in college, and already had learned a fair amount about the French Revolution, if mainly from it being mentioned peripherally in almost every course I took dealing with the period that came after the Revolution. So a lot of the names of the principal actors and the various groups like the sans-culottes and girondistes were already known to me beforehand.
Well, as some other reviewers have noted, the book gives the barest possible narrative outline of the Revolution itself, so if you're looking for a blow-by-blow account of what happened from, say 1789-1795, then go for Jeremy Popkin's book on the same topic.
Instead, this book offers an excellent overview of what the Revolutions more long-term effects were, and how the Revolution has been seen and imitated in the two centuries that have followed it. In the first chapter, it also discusses in brief the old regime that was replaced by the Revolution, detailing the weaknesses that led to its violent fall. Without this key introduction, the discussion following it would be acontextual and I found myself continually leafing back to it, particularly since I knew so little about the period before reading the book.
The bibliography provides a great guide to further readings.
In sum: the book is just what it says it is and couldn't be more concise or informative. Anyone who's heard the French Revolution being discussed, knows a little about European history already, and wants to know more about both is well-advised to try this book.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Introduction to the French Revolution, August 21, 2003
This review is from: The French Revolution: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) (Paperback)
I easily concur with the previous reviews: this is an outstanding introductory text on the French Revolution. Of particular interest beyond the mere historical facts surrounding the revolution is Doyle's presentation on how the event has been interpreted over the past two centuries. The study of this book can easily result in derivative studies of Furet, Schama, and others. Not only a bargain pricewise, but a great presentation of a critical historic event in an exceptionally interesting and accessible structure. I have to say that I immensely enjoyed it.
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