The Revolting French, 1787–1889

Book excerpt: This book investigates the impact of revolution on the French from the Revolution of 1789 to its centenary in 1889. It explores specific and linking factors in the main revolts and how historians have differed in their explanations. Revolution has been explained in a multitude of ways from economic, social and philosophic, to a range of identities including religion, race and gender, contingency, emotions, and most recently global factors. The nineteenth-century French state was threatened by an unprecedented number of revolts. What impact did the 1789 Revolution have on nineteenth-century events? Why were there so many revolutions at the time? Were there common factors? Were non-revolutionary issues as significant or more significant in provoking change? Why was it that insurrection was rarer in the second half of the century when revolutionary rhetoric was more prolific? The book weighs political and philosophical differences, lack of trust and willingness to compromise, economic, social and cultural issues, urban geography, archaeology and contingency. The final section presents some contemporary explanations, written and visual. This book will be essential reading for A-level and undergraduate historians of France and Europe and will be of interest to general readers keen to understand the impact of revolutions in the modern world.