Book Review: The French Revolution: From Enlightenment to Tyranny
by Ian Davidson
As a comprehensive collection and analysis of scholarly research, this book is an essential supplement to your secondary school education (and probably that from college too) about the French Revolution. Don’t venture citing the French Revolution without first reading this complete and objective history of that era, which some people may understandably refer to in addressing current ideologies and policies. In the unabridged audio book version, the narrator’s rendering of the French words in native-accented French adds to the cultural context of the events chronicled that would be lost in a fully anglicized presentation.
The initially hopeful but eventually tragic interplay between the nobility, bourgeoisie, and sans-culottes is full of examples to contemplate in the context of our own times. Through this objective exposition, one may clearly follow the progression of decline from genuine good will, as it devolved into a Terror driven mostly by personal vendetta and fabricated accusations. The atrocities committed on such a large scale as documented in these actual events are nauseating. Maximilien Robespierre’s cynical manipulation of the sans-culottes for his own personal ambition is especially noteworthy, as he used their justifiable complaints about food shortages while never doing anything tangible to alleviate them. Characteristics of these real life historical persons, including Robespierre and eventually Bonaparte, are manifested in some public figures today. This book serves as a warning that such follies can appear anywhere at anytime, even built on honorable intentions.
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