The Oxford History of the French Revolution: Third Edition - Softcover

Doyle, William

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0198804938 ISBN 13: 9780198804932

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2018

Synopsis

Since its first publication to mark the bicentenary of the French Revolution in 1989, this Oxford History has established itself as the Revolution's most authoritative and comprehensive one-volume history in English, and has recently been translated into Chinese. Running from the accession of Louis XVI in 1774, it traces the history of France through revolution, terror, and counter-revolution to the final triumph of Napoleon in 1802. It also analyses the impact of events in France upon the rest of Europe and the world beyond. The study shows how a movement which began with optimism and general enthusiasm soon became a tragedy, not only for the ruling orders, but also for the millions of ordinary people whose lives were disrupted by religious upheaval, economic chaos, and civil and international war.

Now in its third edition, this volume has been fully updated in the light of current research, and includes an appendix surveying the past and present historiography of the revolutionary period.

About this title

Review

Review from previous edition ... an outstanding model of clarity and informed scholarship. (Simon Schama, New Republic)

Doyle's book, in its readability, its clarity, and its balance, is certainly the best of the general studies of the Revolution that have recently appeared; it will appeal both to the general reader and to the historian. And it deals with the subject, rather than with those who have already written about it. (Richard Griffiths, Times Higher Educational Supplement)

... a work of breath-taking range which deserves to reach a wide popular market . . . It is the fullest history to appear of the Revolutionary era . . . Masterfully written, with a nice sense of the atmosphere and of the physical background to the events recounted. (Marianne Elliott, The Observer)

He writes lucidly and gracefully, with balance and good judgement . . . offers valuable insights into the shadows that the Revolution cast across the century that followed it. (Philip Zeigler, Weekend Telegraph)

Doyle has produced a wonderfully lucid, authoritative, and balanced history, ornamented with all the scholarly apparatus one would expect from an Oxford history. (Linda Colley, London Review of Books)

first-rate synthesis . . . The strengths of the book are its firm narrative thread, its measured tone and the extraordinary distillation of knowledge contained in each chapter. The author's familiarity with ongoing research in the field of French revolutionary history is nearly total; the fruits of many historians' labours are deftly summarised, received opinions modified, alternative judgments formulated. In terms of sheer coverage, the book is difficult to fault. Not only is the life of revolutionary France captured in these pages, but that of much of Europe as well. (New Statesman)

For readers who need a fairly brisk, non-digressive account of events after the accession of Louis XVI up to Napoleon and the peace of Amiens in 1802, this compact book, by the professor and chairman of the school of history at Bristol University, is the answer. (Anthony Curtis, Financial Times)

His book is a tour de force of historical scholarship . . . and a pleasure to read. (Piers Brendon, The Mail on Sunday)

This is the most comprehensive all-in-one history of the Revolution . . . supremely clear and brimming with scholarly detail. (The Independent)

. . . traditional, scholarly, narrative history . . . a clear and balanced picture of the origins of the Revolution. (New York Times Book Review)

About the Author

Emeritus Professor of History and Senior Research Fellow at the University of Bristol, William Doyle was educated at Bridlington School and Oriel College Oxford. His postgraduate work culminated in a doctorate on Bordeaux in the Eighteenth Century, and he has since taught successively at the universities of York, Nottingham, and Bristol, with further visiting appointments in France and the USA. The author of sixteen books and co-editor of a further four, which include translations into eight foreign languages, Doyle is also the Co-founder of the Society for the Study of French History.

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 0198804938
• ISBN 13: 9780198804932
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 3
• Number of pages: 512