Revolutionary Ideas – An Intellectual History of the French Revolution from The Rights of Man to Robespierre - Hardcover

Israel, Jonathan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0691151725 ISBN 13: 9780691151724

Publisher: Princeton University Press, 2014

Synopsis

Historians of the French Revolution used to take for granted what was also obvious to its contemporary observers--that the Revolution was shaped by the radical ideas of the Enlightenment. Yet in recent decades, scholars have argued that the Revolution was brought about by social forces, politics, economics, or culture--almost anything but abstract notions like liberty or equality. In Revolutionary Ideas, one of the world's leading historians of the Enlightenment restores the Revolution's intellectual history to its rightful central role. Drawing widely on primary sources, Jonathan Israel shows how the Revolution was set in motion by radical eighteenth-century doctrines, how these ideas divided revolutionary leaders into vehemently opposed ideological blocs, and how these clashes drove the turning points of the Revolution. In this compelling account, the French Revolution stands once again as a culmination of the emancipatory and democratic ideals of the Enlightenment. That it ended in the Terror represented a betrayal of those ideas--not their fulfillment.

About this title

Review:

"Dumas would have found a great deal to appreciate in Jonathan Israel's "Revolutionary Ideas"."--David A. Bell, "New York Review of Books"

"[P]rovocative and unrelenting."--Lynn Hunt, "New Republic"

Winner of the 2015 PROSE Award in European & World History, Association of American Publishers
Winner of the 2015 PROSE Award in European & World History, Association of American Publishers
"Overwhelmingly impressive."--Peter Watson, "Times"

"[P]acked with details . . . ["Revolutionary Ideas"] is part of Israel's major project to give the Enlightenment, especially the Radical Enlightenment as he calls it, new luster."--NRC Handelsblad

"[M]ajestic."--Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe, "Trinidad and Tobago News"

Winner of the 2015 PROSE Award in European & World History, Association of American Publishers

"[A]dvances an erudite and persuasive argument. . . . Israel's categorization of the various revolutionary factions offers fascinating new insights, and his knack for uncovering interesting but neglected individuals and texts is second to none . . . rich and thought provoking book. It is remarkable and significant."--Rachel Hammersley, Times Literary Supplement

"[C]losely argued. . . . Israel can be understood as a historian in the long liberal tradition stretching back to Madame de Stael, who herself witnessed the revolution and saw it as a story of the betrayal of liberty."--Ruth Scurr, Wall Street Journal

From the Back Cover:

"Combining erudition and verve, Revolutionary Ideas is an exciting, bold, valuable, and courageous book that should have a wide readership. A veritable tour de force, it fundamentally reconceptualizes the French Revolution. Arguing that ideas caused the revolution, propelled it forward, and constituted its essence, Jonathan Israel provides a wealth of detail about the little-known but fascinating characters who made up the radical wing of the revolutionary leadership."--Helena Rosenblatt, the Graduate Center, City University of New York

"There is nothing else quite like this book. It not only crowns one of the major individual history projects of the past century but also serves as a stimulus to fresh debate on the greatest and most fundamentally important of all revolutions."--William Doyle, author of The Oxford History of the French Revolution

About this edition

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0691151725
• ISBN 13: 9780691151724
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 888