La Révolution Française

by Georges Lefebvre

Lefebvre's account of the origins of the French Revolution was written in Quatre-Vingt-Neuf, & published in 1939 to mark the sesquicentennial of the events of 1789, but the Vichy government that took over the following year wanted no left-wing history or sympathetic understanding of the Revolution, as they drew their support from the anti-republican right. The Vichy régime suppressed the book, ordering 8000 copies to be burned; as a result the work was virtually unknown in its native land until reprinted in '70. Its reputation was already secure in the English-speaking world, however, since the English translation, The Coming of the French Revolution ('39) had established it as a clear, yet subtle, classic. It remains the definitive explanation of the Marxist interpretation of the causes of the Revolution. His seminal work, La Révolution Française (revised edition, '51) was translated into English as 2 The French Revolution from its Origins to 1793 ('62-4) & The French Revolution from 1793 to 1799 ('64).

Genres: History, Nonfiction, French Revolution

Paperback

First published January 1, 1951

About the author

Georges Lefebvre was a French historian, best known for his work on the French Revolution and peasant life.

Reviews

[Hermano · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the classic work on the French Revolution, but this book is not for the novice or faint of heart. You should only read this after a BA in Modern European History.

[Erik Graff · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this two volume set while still in high school from The History Book Club, but didn't get around to reading it until finishing R.R. Palmer's Age of Democratic Revolutions long afterwards.

Lefebvre's is the history of the French Revolution to read. Everyone dealing with the subject since him has to deal with him and his Marxist analysis of the events leading up to the events of 1789-99. The book is rather dry, but his arguments appear very well grounded.

[A · Rating 4 out of 5]

Only finished Volume 1 and may or may not get to Volume 2. Great, but..... a bit too scholarly for me i guess, as the author constantly throws out names or groups without explanation (and me in the dark). Usually one learns from context and is thereby edified, but not always- sometimes it is just confusing. Having said that, the ground is very well covered. I have been dipping into a few other popular histories of the revolution for context and support and find them too casual- deepening my appreciation of the Lefebvre volume. Was a bit hard to get into, as we are graced with maybe 100 pages (???) of financial background to the revolution. Yes, one supposes that was important, but... it isn't really carried forward, so looking back it seems a bit narrow and unbalanced to overweight that so much.

[Rob Markley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was reading volume two in 1999 and after the first volume the year before. Actually the main problem was that I don't have a good enough handle on what was going on. Everything far too confusing but I appreciated Lefebvre's penetrating analysis

[Snævar Hreinsson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Impressive work of great scholarship. Your interest in history better match your love for good prose if you intend to get through this book unscaithed.