The Oxford History of the French Revolution

I have found it difficult to find books written in English about the French Revolution, until I came across this. Initially I discounted it because it is the "Oxford history of..." but that was my mistake, I think. The author's understanding of France's development--the Enlightenment, the country-wide agrarian poverty, the recession of the 1790s, the class conflicts; other than the Monarchy, the absence of clear political cohesion; the international distrust of the Revolution, the antagonism between France and the other European powers--these and many more topics were thoroughly interesting. I am grateful I found this book. If readers have others to suggest, please do so. After all, my understand of the French Revolution was based on Tale of Two Cities, from the eighth grade.

The book is quite informative and detailed, but enjoyable to read - not at all tedious like other textbooks. The only reason I gave 4 stars instead of 5 is that the author assumes the reader has a level of knowledge not everyone has. For example, he inserts various French words without defining them. Since I don't know French, this was frustrating. Also, several governmental positions and ministries are not well defined either. Since I'm not familiar with French political structures (especially from past history), I feel like I missed out on a deeper understanding of events. However, this did not make the text unintelligible.

Good book

A view of the dynamics that created the horrible necessity of revolution and the amalgam of violent ideologies in conflict that fanned the flames. Whenever we actively create and/or passively allow evils to multiply, there always comes a moment of reckoning where the cost of ‘revolution’ is vastly greater than the cost of active confession and courageous confrontation would have been.

The best one volume book on the French revolution.

Muy interesante análisis y completa revisión de un acontecimiento que cambio el mundo para siempre. Recomendable para una revisión analítica del fenómeno histórico.

Very good book, but unfortunately the author assumes that readers know a lot about actual events, and that might be a problem: he gives very good, perceptive ideas, but not enough background details.

I think it is very well written. It helped me to get a better grasp of many of the important characters, without either demonizing or canonizing them.

Excellent, comprehensive & detailed account. Would recommend to anyone with serious interest in this topic.

A good book to learn the basics about the French Revolution. Well written and researched. I thoroughtly enjoyed it.

This is a long but very thorough and complete history of the French Revolution. The writing style is clear, eminently readable and informative. This is a great book

10

Ouvrage très clair et exhaustif, présentant les faits sans idéologie.