When the King Took Flight

by Timothy Tackett (Author)

58 ratings

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Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B000F4LMP8
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 13.6 ounces

Best Sellers Rank: #18,304,646 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #31,928 in French History (Books)
- #189,296 in Deals in Books
- #373,560 in World History (Books)

Customer Reviews:
58 ratings

Customer reviews

5 star		62%
4 star		20%
3 star		5%
2 star		4%
1 star		9%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Ryan

Great book and seller!

Reviewed in the United States on August 19, 2020

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This book will be helpful for my graduate class and will help with my 10 grade students who I teach. It has some great information and isn't dry to read. The seller had the book to me faster than expected. The book has no bends, rips or tears and has minimal writing and highlighting which is great! I highly reccomend this seller and this book as well!

One person found this helpful

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Chris

Very good, almost great

Reviewed in the United States on November 18, 2010

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This book is a cross between scholarly and pop history, leaning more toward the former. But it's so beautifully written and well organized, with a fascinating topic, that anyone with even slight interest in history would probably enjoy it.

Tackett opens the book with the amazing story of the abrupt end to the flight of King Louis XVI and his family. They were stopped in Varennes as they tried to pass through on their way out of the country during the third year of the French Revolution. Later Tackett details all that went into planning the escape, which is one of the most fascinating moments of the Revolution.

But the ramifications and aftermath of this attempted escape are even more important, and Tackett does a reasonable job explaining why. However, this is the one area where he falls a bit short. He argues that the king's flight and the aftermath led to the Terror, but he didn't spend enough time explaining why, which is surprising since that seemed to be a main part of his thesis. Nevertheless, it's a great read and highly recommended.

5 people found this helpful

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An excellent addition to the French Revolution literature

Reviewed in the United States on December 14, 2006

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The Flight of the King from Paris was an event that shook the core of the revolution. Tackett is a great French Revolution historian and he does not disappoint here. The book is easy to read and stays on topic making you think about the idea of causality in the revolution. Tackett takes a great deal of time to explain how the flight of the king changed the opinion of the people in France. He does so very well and makes for a very interesting book. For those studying the revolution this is a much read about a crucial moment that changed the course of the revolution shifting it over to violence that had not been seen prior the flight of the king.

12 people found this helpful

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DARKOBOY

Great book

Reviewed in the United States on October 11, 2013

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I choose these rating because when I visited Varenes in France I decided to find a book in wich I could find out what happend. I can only say, to visit a historical place and than to read about events that is the greatest thing. But the story must be well written and so I can only recommand these book to all interested in history full of intrigues and games and final in destiny of those peaople who in crucial moment shows only their weakest points and ruins theirs and other lives. Sorry but king Luis the XVI was such a weak man.But in history of mankind other follows and their bad decisions had bad folows in historicall events .

One person found this helpful

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coffee cat

Great introduction to French Revolution

Reviewed in the United States on February 21, 2015

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Extremely interesting way of describing this critical event in the revolution. Begins with the details of the French royal family's attempted flight to safety and then describes in separate chapters how different groups were affected by the king's attempted departure. Tackett presents the concerns and pressures on each group in a compassionate way and thereby provides an introduction to the driving forces of the Revolution, especially for people like me who knew nothing about the Revolution. Covers only the summer of their ill-fated flight but covers it in great and interesting detail.

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Abby

Great for French Revolution Teachers and Enthusiasts

Reviewed in the United States on February 18, 2013

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Very well-done. I read it to prep for teaching my college course that begins with The Enlightenment and the French Revolution. There is A LOT of detail about the escape of the Royal Family and his argument for it's significant as a turning point in the Revolution is an important distinction and compelling. However, the book includes other information about the Revolution, so it can serve as a source for the Revolution as a whole as well.

One person found this helpful

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EJSwenson

Three Stars

Reviewed in the United States on January 26, 2017

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Well researched, but really slow. Worth it if you're interested in the period.

One person found this helpful

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Alexie

Reads like fiction

Reviewed in the United States on December 28, 2016

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A wonderful book. Reads like fiction with fascinating details. I'd recommend for anyone who likes history, nonfiction, historical fiction, or French culture.

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Top reviews from other countries

david jarman

you wouldn't believe it, in a story

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 26, 2014

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read this alongside Mark Steel's Vive La Revolution! - history as a comedy of errors, but here told deadpan straight. this is a textbook lesson in how to take a brief, factual, well-documented episode in history and tell it like it was, with just the right amount of context, leaving it to the reader to goggle at the sheer improbability of it all. Tackett is an obscure American prof (no previous books listed in this one), it's as if he stumbled onto this incredible tale by chance, and has written it up lie a term essay with the wide-eyed innocence of a child of the French Enlightenment - a Candide. I only tracked this book down by googling Flight to Varennes, on a tip-off from Mark Steel. Scotland's greatest recently-living artist Ian Hamilton Finlay erected a signpost to it, but mis-recalled it as Vincennes, to add a little piquancy.

2 people found this helpful

Christian Deysson

Excellent Text... shoddy Kindle edition

Reviewed in Germany on December 29, 2012

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Deeply researched and well-written text, excellent analysis of the historic implication of King Louis XVI's drama at Varennes for the French revolution. But, alas, what a shoddy, disappointing Kindle edition of this great book: No illustration whatsoever (Kindle-readers are referred to the printed edition). Fantastic, Amazon! So do I buy the book twice? Why do you give us Kindle with high resolution displays, if you won't let us have illustrated books? Makes no sense to me... Even worse:the links for numerous,highly informative footnotes do not work. If you touch the link, nothing happens.

This book is definitely worth reading, but the shoddy Kindle edition is not worth the money... Just buy the printed book instead.

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When the King Took Flight

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