The French Revolution, Vol. 3 of 3 (Classic Reprint) - Softcover

Taine, Hippolyte Adolphe

Softcover

ISBN 10: 133118746X ISBN 13: 9781331187462

Publisher: Forgotten Books, 2018

Synopsis

During the French Revolution, the new Jacobin government had to consolidate its power after overthrowing the Girondists. This book examines the Jacobin program, which aimed to create a classless society in which individuals surrendered themselves entirely to the state, resulting in the loss of personal identity and the suppression of religion, education, and private property. Using extensive primary source material, the author traces the roots of this program to Rousseau's theories and its implementation through a highly centralized and brutal government. The book concludes that this radical experiment, marked by the Reign of Terror, laid the foundation for future totalitarian regimes.

About this title

Product Description

Excerpt from The French Revolution, Vol. 3 of 3 "In Egypt," says Clement of Alexandria, "the sanctuaries of the temples are shaded by curtains of golden tissue. But on going further into the interior in quest of the statue, a priest of grave aspect, advancing to meet you and chanting a hymn in the Egyptian tongue, slightly raises a veil to show you the god. And what do you behold? A crocodile, or some indigenous serpent, or other dangerous animal, the Egyptian god being a brute rolling about on a purple carpet." We need not visit Egypt or go so far back in history to encounter crocodile worship, as this can be readily found in France at the end of the last century. - Unfortunately, a hundred years is too long an interval, too far away, for an imaginative retrospect of the past. At the present time, standing where we do and regarding the horizon behind us, we see only forms which the intervening atmosphere embellishes, shimmering contours which each spectator may interpret in his own fashion; no distinct, animated figure, but merely a mass of moving points, forming and dissolving in the midst of picturesque architecture. I was anxious to have a nearer view of these vague points, and, accordingly, transported myself back to the last half of the eighteenth century, where I have been living with them for twelve years, and, like Clement of Alexandria, examining, first, the temple, and next the god. A passing glance at these is not sufficient; a step further must be taken to comprehend the theology on which this cult is founded. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may

Edition details

• Publisher: Forgotten Books
• Publication date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 133118746X
• ISBN 13: 9781331187462
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 527