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Interpreting the French Revolution
Paperback
Published January 1, 1981
26 people want to read
About the author
François Furet
87 books45 followersFrançois Furet (27 March 1927, Paris – 12 July 1997, Figeac) was a French historian, and president of the Saint-Simon Foundation, well known for his books on the French Revolution.
He was elected to the Académie française in March 1997, just three months before he died in July.
He was elected to the Académie française in March 1997, just three months before he died in July.
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February 28, 2026An essential document in 20th century historiography of the French Revolution.
Historiographies of the French Revolution are intense ideological struggles to claim its legacy. The project that is interpreting the French Revolution is distinct from other paradigm shifts because it is a foundational myth of modern politics. Its history perpetually contested and rewritten to serve the present.
Furet breaks with the marxist interpretation that was dominant for a lot of the interpretations of the time before.
Furet claims that it was Ideas (i.e the writings of Ruessau and the like) rather than socioeconomic conditions (marxist interpretations) that were the driving force for the french revolution. It’s not that you have a crisis in feudalism that leads to the rise of capitalism and that this is a bourgeois revolution in Marxist terms. Furet is suggesting that it’s a broader problem, that it’s really about internal contradictions in the political system.
Furet also goes on to comment how the French Revolution contributed to the rise of totalitarianism, in line with his interpretation of the “internal contradictions” of a decentralised political system.
Historiographies of the French Revolution are intense ideological struggles to claim its legacy. The project that is interpreting the French Revolution is distinct from other paradigm shifts because it is a foundational myth of modern politics. Its history perpetually contested and rewritten to serve the present.
Furet breaks with the marxist interpretation that was dominant for a lot of the interpretations of the time before.
Furet claims that it was Ideas (i.e the writings of Ruessau and the like) rather than socioeconomic conditions (marxist interpretations) that were the driving force for the french revolution. It’s not that you have a crisis in feudalism that leads to the rise of capitalism and that this is a bourgeois revolution in Marxist terms. Furet is suggesting that it’s a broader problem, that it’s really about internal contradictions in the political system.
Furet also goes on to comment how the French Revolution contributed to the rise of totalitarianism, in line with his interpretation of the “internal contradictions” of a decentralised political system.
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July 11, 2025sorry guys im in my comps era
December 30, 2025
Still a fascinating ‘must read’ for those interested in the history (and, more importantly as pertains to this book) the historiography of the French Revolution.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews