The French Revolution, 1789-1799

by McPhee, Peter

• ISBN13: 9780199244140
• ISBN10: 0199244146
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-01-17
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

This book provides a succinct yet up-to-date and challenging approach to the French Revolution of 1789-1799 and its consequences. Peter McPhee provides an accessible and reliable overview and one which deliberately introduces students to central debates among historians.The book has two main aims. One aim is to consider the origins and nature of the Revolution of 1789-99. Why was there a Revolution in France in 1789? Why did the Revolution follow its particular course after 1789? When was it 'over'? A second aim is to examine the significance of the Revolutionaryperiod in accelerating the decay of Ancien Regime society. How 'revolutionary' was the Revolution? Was France fundamentally changed as a result of it?Of particular interest to students will be the emphasis placed by the author on the repercussions of the Revolution on the practives of daily life: the lived experience of the Revolution. The author's recent work on the environmental impact of the Revolution is also incorporated to provide a lively,modern, and rounded picture of France during this critical phase in the development of modern Europe.

Author Biography

Peter McPhee was educated at the University of Melbourne. He taught at La Trobe University (Melbourne) and the Victoria University of Wellington (New Zealand) before returning to the University of Melbourne, where he has held a Personal Chair in History since 1993. He has published widely on the history of modern France, notably, 'A Social History of France 1780-1880' (London, 1992) and Revolution and Environment in Southern France, 1780-1830' (Oxford, 1999).

Table of Contents

Introduction	1	(3)
France in the 1780s	4	(20)
The Crisis of the Old Regime	24	(26)
The Revolution of 1789	50	(14)
The Reconstruction of France, 1789-1791	64	(25)
A Second Revolution, 1792	89	(20)
The Revolution in the Balance, 1793	109	(22)
The Terror: Revolutionary Defence or Paranoia?	131	(23)
Ending the Revolution, 1795-1799	154	(24)
The Significance of the Revolution	178	(27)
Maps	205	(6)
France-physical	205	(1)
Pre-revolutionary France	206	(1)
The departments of revolutionary France	207	(1)
Revolutionary Paris	208	(1)
The `Vendee militaire'	209	(1)
Number of capital sentences passed, by department	210	(1)
Chronology	211	(7)
Appendix: The Revolutionary Calendar	218	(1)
A Guide to Further Reading	219	(6)
Index	225