The Oxford History of the French Revolution (Paperback)

by William Doyle (Author) "THE king of France needed no coronation..." (more)
Key Phrases: territorial subvention, revolutionary consensus, clerical oath, Great Britain, Committee of Public Safety, French Revolution (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"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)
--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Description
Massacres were nothing new to the late eighteenth-century world, but the prospect of a government systematically executing its opponents by the cartload for months on end presented Europe with a new and unimaginable horror. The Reign of Terror and the French Revolution as a whole transformed the meaning of political change and history itself. Written by a leading historian, this authoritative and comprehensive history draws on a wealth of new research in order to reassess the greatest of all revolutions.

Beginning with the accession of Louis XVI in 1774, William Doyle traces the history of France through revolution, terror, and counter-terror, to the triumph of Napoleon in 1802, along the way analyzing the impact of these events in France upon the rest of Europe. He explores how a movement which began with optimism and general enthusiasm soon became a tragedy, not only for the ruling orders, but for millions of ordinary people all over Europe. They were the ones who paid the price for the destruction of the old political order and the struggle to establish a new one, based on liberty and revolution, in the face of widespread indifference and hostility. Highly readable and meticulously researched, The Oxford History of the French Revolution will provide new insights into one of the most important events in European history.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (October 11, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0192852213
• ISBN-13: 978-0192852212
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #423,484 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding narrative history of the French Revolution, December 27, 2001

By A Customer

The Oxford History of the French Revolution, written by William Doyle, is easily the best narrative survey of the French Revolution out there today. Its a long and dense work to be sure, but given the length and complexity of the French Revolution (as well as the events that preceded it and immediately followed it) and Doyle's book is remarkably concise, while still covering all of the important events, personages, developments and issues in ample detail. In truth, it's really quite stunning that a history of just a few hundred pages is able to address not just internal politics, but matters of religion, diplomacy, ideology, economics, society, and war-- and to do so in a manner that flows smoothly and clearly. Some folks, of course, may whine about the book still being very dense or complex... but that's the way the French Revolution is-- and there's just no getting around that if you actually want to tell the whole story. The fact is that the Revolution isa remarkably tangled series of events and can't simply be reduced to a simple easy-to-follow story. That's that's why it actually forms its own subfield within the field of modern European history-- it's that big and and that complex. In sum, Doyle's book is an outstanding work of narrative history that covers its subject thoroughly-- although those looking for more detail on particulars will of course want to consult other works. Very highly recommended as an insightful to those interested in a good solid account of the French Revolution and a reference book even for scholars.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Introduction, May 14, 2005

By	R. Albin (Ann Arbor, Michigan United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Oxford History of the French Revolution (Paperback)

The French Revolution is one of the most important events in modern history, went on for the better part of a decade, involved a large number of significant personages, has complex political, social, economic, and ideological dimensions, has generated a huge literature, and interpretation has been controversial often. This list gives an idea of the challenges involved in producing a good one volume overview. Despite these obstacles, William Doyle succeeds with a lucid and enjoyable book that seems not to neglect any important areas and is generally evenhanded in dealing with controversial issues.
Doyle presents the Revolution as a highly contingent event precipitated by the fiscal collapse of the French Monarchy, exacerbated by recent history of economic difficulties due to irregular and often poor harvests in France in the decade prior to the Revolution. Doyle is very good also on the long term trends - the increasing size of the bourgeosie, the rising literacy and importance of public opinion, the Enlightenment influenced disillusion with the sometimes arbitrary nature of traditional government - that set the stage for the Revolution and had a large effect on its outcomes. Still, Doyle's emphasis is on the basis narrative and he does very well in telling the story of the Revolution without either getting too bogged down in details or sliding over important issues. I recommend, however, that the first half of this book be read in conjunction with Doyle's concise (about 200 pages in a paperback edition) book on the Origins of the French Revolution. There is some redundancy in the narrative when reading both books but the Origins book stresses the underlying structural features in a complementary manner.
Doyle goes on with a sustained narrative to Napoleon's seizure of power. Doyle covers very well the achievements and common disastrous mistakes of the Revolutionary period. Some of these mistakes, like the disastrously mistaken policies towards the Catholic Church, were responsible for generating implacable hostility, both within and outside France, to the Revolution. A consistent theme is that war against internal and external enemies was a powerful radicalizing force, often responsible for many of the serious errors and crimes of the Revolution. Many sections are excellent; his discussion of revolutionary imperialism, for example, nicely explores the apparent paradox of a liberation movement becoming a ruthless exploiter. Doyle's description of the oscillations of the Revolution and the corrupt behavior of the last Revolutionary government, the Directory, give a very good sense of why so many people must have welcomed the dictatorship of Napoleon.
Doyle concludes with an interpretative chapter on the Revolution. In common with many recent historians, he sees the Revolution as a social disaster precipitated by good intentions. Among other causes, he cites the overconfidence of the original revolutionaries that they could remake society on rational grounds. This is both conventional and contains a lot of truth. For example, the attack on the Church essentially destroyed France's largest educational institution and its largest source of poor relief, both with severe adverse consequences. Doyle doesn't mention, however, that the Revolution engendered (largely under Napoleon) educational institutions that made French science and mathematics the world leader well into the 19th century. It is also possible to argue that one of the defects of the initial revolutionaries was not that they were too radical but that in important domains they weren't radical enough. In finance, the Revolution maintained the traditional French aversion to a strong state central bank like the Bank of England, something that might have mitigated the financial problems of the revolutionary governments. In the newly founded USA, the first Bank of the United States did play an important role in putting our governments on a firm footing. In religion, the initial revolutionaries attempted to rationalize and democratize the Church, with disastrous consequences. But, they wished to maintain a state sponsored Church, another traditional French approach. What if they had taken the really radical step of disestablishing religion and simply left religous practice alone?
In summary, this is an excellent book to begin study of the French Revolution.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Book that Wouldn't Die, February 7, 2008

By	Greg (Bloomington, Minnesota United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Oxford History of the French Revolution (Paperback)

William Doyle's Oxford History of the French Revolution is a scholar's history. If anyone is looking for a single volume history of the French Revolution, this one has everything. Doyle exhaustively chronicles the the fate of France's social classes, the economic impact of the Revolution, the impact of near constant warfare, various political experiments, etc. There is virtually no aspect of the French Revolution that is left untouched.

I call this "the book that wouldn't die" because it took me almost a year to complete it. I would read, then along the way, I would find something more interesting, and consume that instead. Then I would try reading it again, and the process would repeat itself...

Doyle's history is exhaustive, scholarly, and a labor to read. It lacks the anecdotes and personal accounts that make history interesting and fun. If you need to complete a term paper, then this is the book for you. If you want entertainment (even a little bit) then you better look elsewhere.