Retard here. I want to learn more about the French Revolution and the decades that followed. But I don’t know where to start. What books should I read?
>>25317421carlyle's book is an extremely fun, dramatic, poetic narration of the events of the revolution
>>25317421In terms of non-fiction:>Edmund Burke’s writings on the French Revolution>Stefan Zweig’s biography of Marie Antoinette>the writings of Rosseau (for philosophical context)In terms of fiction:>A Tale of Two Cities>The Scarlet Pimpernel>War and Peace (the events of the Revolution lead to the events in this novel)>The Rose of Versailles (both the manga and the 1979 anime)
>>25317421The Twelve Who Ruled - R.R. PalmerThe Glory And The Sorrow - Timothy TackettThe Great Cat Massacre - Robert Darnton
>>25317421Lynn Hunt, Robert Darnton and Roger Chartier are mandatory reads.
>>25317521Forgot about Hunt
>>25317421if you really are a retard, maybe you should start with The Rest Is History?
>>25317421The Gods Are Athirst by Anatole France. It's about the reign of terror.
>>25317426Fpbp
>>25317426But is it accurate?
>>25317555Carlyle was a reactionary chud, so most likely not
>>25317421Interpreting the French Revolution by François FuretCitizens by Simon Schama
>>25317559Chuds are more likely to write good books about the French Revolution.
>>25317546>Named France>Writes about the French Revolution Who writes this shit?
>>25317594Lol
The French Revolution by Hilaire Belloc
>>25317421Start with a beginner-friendly overview of the Revolution, then dive-deeper into either individual periods/aspects (the pre-revolutionary context, the reign of terror, the Coalitionary Wars, the massacre at Champ De Mars, etc.); or into the Historiography of the revolution. **DO NOT** start by reading either primary sources, or worse, 19th Century Reactionary Polemics such as anons >>25317426 and >>25317430 have recommended. You lack the basic historical, cultural, and political context to unpack the biases, and limited perspective running through those works. For a beginner friendly overview, the two obvious answers are either "The Oxford History of the French Revolution", or Simon Schama's "Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution." I would also give honourable mention to Mike Duncan's Revolutions podcast, if you're a podcast person. Once you have that basic historical context down, start reading up on the historiography of the French Revolution. Two good books to develop a basic grounding there would be "The French Revolution: Rethinking the Debate" by Gwynne Lewis, and "A Companion to the French Revolution" by Peter McPhee. Once you have that down, then and only then can you move on to reading shit like Edmund Burke, and Thomas Carlyle, because by then you will have developed the requisite background knowledge to read those authors with a critical eye.
>>25317902This is terrible advice.
>>25317910Care to elaborate on that?
>>25317559In his Frederick the Great history he describes the Revolution as a regrettable event made necessary by the obscene practices of the 18th century. Although he seems to resent the period in his history itself I‘d say you can sense that basic line of thought throughout. Topic: If you‘re up for reading a few books in sequence and not strictly looking for one general-purpose primer I‘d strongly recommend de Toqueville‘s The Ancien Regime and the French Revolution as introductory reading leading up to the reign of Louis XVI.
Freemasonry and Judaism: Secret Powers Behind Revolutionhttps://www.amazon.com/Freemasonry-Judaism-Secret-Powers-Revolution/dp/1592328105
>>25318019Based Freemasons and Jews?
>>25318046Gas yourself.
>>25318083Hitler had nuanced and sometimes supportive views of the French Revolution. The one mention of it he makes in Mein Kampf is to say that Danton and Robespierre were leaders worth following. Which is unsurprising since Jacobinism is a firm step in the dialectic path which leads to National Socialism.
>>25317601It is the truth. Chuds don't romanticize the French Revolution and are not afraid to criticize the problems with it.
Carlyle's history was already posted, and that is the best book on it
>>25318083216
>>25317421I second this >>25317986 post, read the Ancien Regime and the revolution early to understand that it did not come out of nowhere
>>25318092Nazi Germany had a negative view of the French Revolution.They saw it as a pivotal moment that led to the rise of liberalism, socialism, and democracy—ideas they fundamentally opposed.The Nazis blamed various groups, mainly Jews, for the perceived negative consequences of the revolution, which they believed contributed to societal decay.They propagated the idea that the international Jewry (Judentum) were behind revolutionary movements in Europe, with the aims to destabilize social order, portraying them as instigators of chaos and disorder.This narrative fit into their broader anti-Semitic ideology, where Jews were scapegoated for numerous historical events and societal issues.
>>25317902>Simon Schama's "Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution." I would also give honourable mention to Mike Duncan's Revolutions podcast, if you're a podcast personOmeganormie libtard detected. What the hell are you doing here?
>>25317924Your phrasing disregards primary source material entirely and treats works like Carlyle's as final reading material.Tertiary and secondary source material is even more muddled in bias than just reading the primary sources. You don't eliminate bias by introducing more bias from guys who weren't even there. I understand that this has become a popular ideology within the field of history, but there's a reason that just about every other field of investigation takes the opposite approach.
The Coming of the French Revolution by Lefebvre is a decent primer, if somewhat outdated, as are the works of Crane Brinton and Palmer. Cooper’s work on Talleyrand is fun and relatively light. The Victorians are best avoided: Don’t waste your precious time on Carlyle, for god sake.
i don't know why people are exaggerating Carlyle's chuddishness. i'm guessing they haven't read the book. he was broadly pro-revolution - admiring of Danton, of Mirabeau; at the least, he saw it as necessary; and more often than not his attitude is simply mystified astonishment at the strangeness of history.>>25317902you write like a redditor advising someone what fishtank to buy. Carlyle is a splendid way to approach the revolution. op would be getting one of the greatest works of English prose into the bargain, and they'll have a vivid indelible impression of all the major personalities and events, which would greatly add to whatever academic works they read subsequently.
Introduction: >The Glory and the Sorrowa thin little book that sort of balks on its premise. Starts off showing you what life in Paris was like before the revolution. Then it quickly becomes an abridged version of the revolution through the eyes of a low class lawyer turned soldier. More in depth: >A New World Begins: The History of the French Revolutiona doorstop of a book with a more historical angle. Contains a lot of information not in Glory and SorrowThe best and most difficult: >Tomas Carlyle's The French Revolution the most literary and in depth history you will find. It assumes you already have knowledge of a lot of French phrases and some knowledge of the revolution, so don't start here unless you already know what oeil-de-boeuf means.
>>25317421Here were michelet’s book on the revolution https://archive.org/details/historyfrenchre00michgoog/page/n31/mode/1up
>>25318638Fuck off ChatGPT. Do your own reading and come at me with something from a book next time.
