Farewell, Revolution: Disputed Legacies, France, 1789/1989 - Hardcover

Kaplan, Steven Laurence

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 080143145X ISBN 13: 9780801431456

Publisher: Cornell University Press, 1995

Synopsis

Steven Laurence Kaplan reconstructs and analyzes the loud and bitter arguments over the meaning of the French Revolution which have consumed French intellectuals in recent years. Kaplan recounts the contemporary debates over the meaning of the Revolution, tracing the impact of the historians' bitter quarrel, from Parisian academic circles to the public arenas of the bicentennial celebration. He considers the roles played in those arguments by three of France's most influential historians: Francois Furet, Pierre Chaunu, and Michel Vovelle. In 1993, Editions Fayard published Steven Laurence Kaplan's controversial history of the bicentennial commemoration of the French Revolution. Here available in English is one of the most polemical parts of that work, Kaplan's account of the contemporary debates over the meaning of the Revolution. Farewell, Revolution: The Historians' Feud, France, 1789/1989 traces the impact of the historians' bitter quarrel, from Parisian academic circles to the public arenas of the bicentennial celebration. Kaplan considers in intimate detail the roles played in those arguments by three of France's most influential historians: Francois Furet, Pierre Chaunu, and Michel Vovelle. As he reenacts the feud, Kaplan invites a reassessment of the relationship between the writing of history and the practice of politics. His book suggests that the charged relationship between history and politics that enlivened the bicentennial may be the Revolution's most enduring legacy.

About this title

About the Author

Steven Laurence Kaplan is Goldwin Smith Professor of History at Cornell University. He is the author of the complementary work, Farewell, Revolution: Disputed Legacies, France, 1789/1989, also from Cornell.

From the Back Cover

In 1993, Editions Fayard published Steven Laurence Kaplan's controversial history of the bicentennial commemoration of the French Revolution. Here available in English is one of the most polemical parts of that work, Kaplan's account of the contemporary debates over the meaning of the Revolution. Farewell, Revolution: The Historians' Feud, France, 1789/1989 traces the impact of the historians' bitter quarrel, from Parisian academic circles to the public arenas of the bicentennial celebration. In the complementary work, Farewell, Revolution: Disputed Legacies, France, 1789/1989, Kaplan chronicles both the ceremonies and the controversies that marked the bicentennial. The present volume considers in intimate detail the roles played in those arguments by three of France's most influential historians: Francois Furet, Pierre Chaunu, and Michel Vovelle. The apparent "king" of the bicentennial, Furet attempted to set and enforce the terms of the debate. Chaunu was the prominent spokesman of those who condemned the Revolution as the wellspring of all that is decadent in modern French culture. While officially entrusted with overseeing the historical accuracy of the commemoration, Vovelle attempted to rally a broad-based coalition against Chaunu and the conservatives. As he reenacts the feud, Kaplan invites a reassessment of the relationship between the writing of history and the practice of politics. His book suggests that the charged relationship between history and politics that enlivened the bicentennial may be the Revolution's most enduring legacy.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cornell University Press
• Publication date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 080143145X
• ISBN 13: 9780801431456
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 277