THE OXFORD HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

by William Doyle ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 13, 1989

Another bicentennial history, this one an authoritative version by a professor of history at the Univ. of Bristol. Doyle eschews the revisionism of J.F. Bosher's The French Revolution (1988), the focus on the mob of Olivier Bernier's Words of Fire. Deeds of Blood (p. 512), the massive sweep of Simon Schama's Citizens (p. 195), and the narrow theoretical grounds of Emmet Kennedy's A Cultural History of the French Revolution (p. 604). Rather, his is a thorough textbook summary of the French Revolution, emphasizing its ironies; in fact, Doyle sees the Revolution as ""in every sense a tragedy""--noting that while it introduced greater rationality and logic into national affairs, greatly improving the administration of the country (including the introduction of the metric and decimal systems), and even introducing a more humane form of execution (the guillotine), it also wreaked havoc with old patterns of charity, resulting in increased poverty, and was, overall, an economic disaster for France as the Revolutionists opted for printing money rather than raising taxes. Even when the more perverse elements of the Revolution were scaled down, Doyle argues, there remained a new concept of coercive State power far in excess of anything dreamed of by the dispossessed monarchy--a concept that produced some of its cruelest manifestations only two centuries later. In conclusion, Doyle scores the Revolution a loss for nobles and the Church, a win for landowners, the bourgeoisie, bureaucrats, and soldiers. A recommended general review, shorn of excessive theorizing.

Pub Date: July 13, 1989

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Oxford Univ. Press

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1989

Categories: NONFICTION