History of the French Revolution

by Jules Michelet, Gordon Wright (Editor)

This book is a first edition. It has sticker on the inside cover over all this book is in quiality condition. Ships same day.

Genres: History, French Revolution, France, Nonfiction, European History, French Literature, 19th Century

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1848

About the author

His father was a master printer, not very prosperous, and Jules assisted him in the actual work of the press. A place was offered him in the imperial printing office, but his father was able to send him to the famous Collège or Lycée Charlemagne, where he distinguished himself. He passed the university examination in 1821, and was soon appointed to a professorship of history in the Collège Rollin.

Soon after this, in 1824, he married. This was one of the most favourable periods ever for scholars and men of letters in France, and Michelet had powerful patrons in Abel-François Villemain and Victor Cousin, among others. Although he was an ardent politician (having from his childhood embraced republicanism and a peculiar variety of romantic free-thought), he was above all a man of letters and an inquirer into the history of the past. His earliest works were school textbooks. Between 1825 and 1827 he produced diverse sketches, chronological tables, etc, of modern history. His précis of the subject, published in 1827, is a sound and careful book, far better than anything that had appeared before it, and written in a sober yet interesting style. In the same year he was appointed maître de conferences at the École normale supérieure. Four years later, in 1831, the Introduction à l'histoire universelle showed a very different style, exhibiting the idiosyncrasy and literary power of the writer to greater advantage, but also displaying, in the words of the Encyclopedia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, "the peculiar visionary qualities which made Michelet the most stimulating, but the most untrustworthy (not in facts, which he never consciously falsifies, but in suggestion) of all historians."

Reviews

[Matthew Quest]

Jules Michelet's A History of the French Revolution is one of the best studies of this historical event that I am aware in a field distinguished by powerful authors. Written long before Peter Kropotkin's, Daniel Guerin's, and Albert Soboul's accounts of the same events, it was the first to capture the spontaneous organization of ordinary people, women and workers, in the streets as distinct from focusing on statesmen imagined as progressive. His poetic imagery and his unique philosophy of history makes one experience a unique radical perspective on the events not merely a scholarly one.

[Micah · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The fact, admirably simple in its infinite variety, is the spontaneous organisation of France. That is history, the real, the positive, and the durable; and the rest is nonentity. . . . Before the municipalities are organised, each village governs, guards, and defends itself, as an armed association of inhabitants of the same place. Before there are any arrondissements and departments created by the law, common necessities, especially that of making the roads safe and transporting provisions, form associations between villages and villages, towns and cities, great federations for mutual protection."

It's hard to resist the writing, which is so passionate. You feel the mighty drama of a new Religion of Liberty destroying the old one of Privilege.

[Sean Chick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Outdated but still moving.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good book to read for the alone. Anything even when he is writing about simply retiring for the summer from his job as a professor is somehow inspiring. He is clearly of a certain persuasion and obviously bias about his subject but either way, it is in interesting perspective and a good overall book.
He almost reminds me of the way Thomas Jefferson viewed the revolution in failing to appreciate fully the carnage and the chaos. Of course, there are always those who have their eye so fixed on whatever the end goal is that they will justify or downplay anything else that happens because it will be or seem to be for the greater good.

[Florian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jules Michelets "History of the French Revolution" is as much a book about history as it is source on Historiography.

Written not more than 60 years after the events themselves, you can feel emotions still running hot in many parts of his recounting of the revolution. Michelet never fails to make his feelings on the subject of his writing clear. When he tells of the fraternization of the french during the abolition feudalism, he is deeply moved by the spontaneous outburts of humanity, and he wants the reader to feel the same. When he describes the harrowing excesses of the reign of terror, he often employs irony to underline the ruthlessnes of its worst perpetrators (such as Marat, or Fouché). Yet he is also incredibly nuanced. He invokes Sympathy both for Citizen Capet and for Robespierre, for Chaumette and Brissot. When he admires something about an otherwise despised character in his account, he always points it out.

Does this occasionally affect the Objectivity of the History he writes? Absolutely. As mentioned, his style of Historiography is an old one (allthough extremely innovative for his time, considering his great attention to "the people") and would not pass in the context of modern Academia. If one wanted a more matter-of-fact account of the french revolution, more modern Literature would obviously be the way to go. But if one wants a moving, inspiring, at times philosophical read on one of the most important events in history (-story being the important part of the word here), Jules Michelets "History of the French Revolution is perfect.

[Andy Hill · Rating 3 out of 5]

His detail to the lesser known individuals and events was very refreshing. Kept me on my toes having to look these up to assist my understanding. Having been written so close to the actual time itself helped create that feeling .
However, a history of the French Revolution that doesn't include a telling of The Terror and deposing of the royal family just seems a bit incomplete.

[Kenneth Goodall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant and passionate account of the beginnings of the Revolution.

[Celeste · Rating 2 out of 5]

The information in this is wide, but kind of repetitive. It's not very convenient for a fast read. I've been having to zip through book after book on the French Revolution and preferably, I like for the index to be able to direct me to exactly what I want to know first, so that if I miss something, I don't feel as if I've missed something crucial to my project. The index wasn't very helpful. It was organized, but not in a way that I could weed out the important stuff from the unimportant.

[Nerd]

A frustrating, yet illuminating read.