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The French Revolution: A Political History
A major new political history of the French Revolution
In 1786, France’s ancien régime was functioning as usual. Its alliance with the victorious American colonies had restored its diplomatic prestige, the economy seemed to be flourishing, and internal politics seemed quiet. But just a few short years later, the dynasty which had ruled France for over 800 years was swept away. What happened to cause such devastating change to the long-established political structure?
John Hardman traces the political history of the French Revolution, from its origins to its aftermath. Hardman argues that the nature of ancien régime politics, the mismanagement of the fiscal crisis, and a new generation of young, overly confident politicians brought the Bourbon monarchy’s apparatus crashing down. He shows how feudalism was on its last legs in 1789, and analyses the key roles played by Louis XVI, Antoine Barnave, and Georges Danton.
This is a remarkable history of one of modern Europe’s defining moments, shedding new light on the complex politics of the day.
In 1786, France’s ancien régime was functioning as usual. Its alliance with the victorious American colonies had restored its diplomatic prestige, the economy seemed to be flourishing, and internal politics seemed quiet. But just a few short years later, the dynasty which had ruled France for over 800 years was swept away. What happened to cause such devastating change to the long-established political structure?
John Hardman traces the political history of the French Revolution, from its origins to its aftermath. Hardman argues that the nature of ancien régime politics, the mismanagement of the fiscal crisis, and a new generation of young, overly confident politicians brought the Bourbon monarchy’s apparatus crashing down. He shows how feudalism was on its last legs in 1789, and analyses the key roles played by Louis XVI, Antoine Barnave, and Georges Danton.
This is a remarkable history of one of modern Europe’s defining moments, shedding new light on the complex politics of the day.
384 pages, Hardcover
First published November 4, 2025
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About the author
John Hardman
14 books10 followersJohn Hardman is one of the world’s leading experts on the French Revolution and the author of several well-regarded books on the subject. He was formerly lecturer in modern history at the University of Edinburgh.
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December 15, 2025What was revolutionary about the French Revolution? Contemporary critics such as Edmund Burke lamented that France’s tyro politicians had squandered a golden opportunity to renew with a useable past. Had they found nothing to salvage from their own traditions, he urged, they might yet have imitated ‘wise examples’ available abroad, notably the constitutional model of their British neighbours. Instead, they were hazarding an untested path woe-betided with epochal danger. Such auguries, however, tended to disregard the revolution’s shock-of-the-new logic and appeal. As rhapsodised by Louis Antoine de Saint-Just, a leading young gun during the Terror, there should be no imitation of anything ‘that has occurred before us’, because ‘heroism has no models’. For Alexis de Tocqueville, seeking to make sense of it all in 19th-century retrospect, Burke had misconstrued the revolution ‘taking place before his eyes’ – one which broke new ground precisely because ‘there could be no question of putting the clock back’.
John Hardman introduces his chronicle of the French Revolution by evoking how the events of 1789 and beyond would indeed put a new type of ‘revolution’ on the world historical map. In the 20th century France’s revolutionary script would become the ‘model’ for Russia and China. And yet, as the author dryly observes, these were hardly ‘happy experiences’. To be sure, Hardman does not pin blame on the generation of 1789 for latter-day revolutionary misadventures, seeing the French case as one-of-a-kind. Instead, he aims to explore how the political history of the French Revolution would become ‘a record of failure, instability and internecine strife’.
Read the rest of the review at https://www.historytoday.com/archive/...
Simon Macdonald is Lecturer in Modern European History at University College London.
John Hardman introduces his chronicle of the French Revolution by evoking how the events of 1789 and beyond would indeed put a new type of ‘revolution’ on the world historical map. In the 20th century France’s revolutionary script would become the ‘model’ for Russia and China. And yet, as the author dryly observes, these were hardly ‘happy experiences’. To be sure, Hardman does not pin blame on the generation of 1789 for latter-day revolutionary misadventures, seeing the French case as one-of-a-kind. Instead, he aims to explore how the political history of the French Revolution would become ‘a record of failure, instability and internecine strife’.
Read the rest of the review at https://www.historytoday.com/archive/...
Simon Macdonald is Lecturer in Modern European History at University College London.
August 23, 2025
A complex political history of the French Revolution; some of this went over my head (my own fault for not reading something more straightforward first), but it answered some of the questions I had going into it, and it gripped me throughout. A good read!
December 22, 2025
The French Revolution: A Political History by John Hardman is a clear, insightful account of the political forces and missteps that toppled France’s 800-year-old monarchy. Tracing key figures, fiscal crises, and feudal decline, Hardman illuminates how a combination of leadership errors and emerging revolutionary energies reshaped Europe’s political landscape.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews