Description
Book Synopsis* Examines the origins, development and impact of the French Revolution * Features original contributions from thirty of the world's leading historians, including six essays translated from French.
Trade Review“The emerging global analysis of the French Revolution’s events and legacies expresses a new generation’s search for historical meanings in the transitional decades of 1775-1815. McPhee’s volume has no single theme or unifying vision, but its diversity suggests the continuing vitality of a field that is constantly fragmenting into new themes and perspectives.” (H-France, January 2014)
“The Revolution will never be exhausted as a subject of historical interest; this volume is an excellent survey of the current state of research.” (Reference Reviews, 1 November 2013)
"Of greatest interest to specialists and graduate students, this will be an important acquisition for collections serving this readership. Summing Up: Essential. Upper-division undergraduates and above.” (Choice, 1 October 2013)
“Highly recommended for anyone with an interest in the Revolution, but especially an interest in modern scholarship.” (Reading Treasure, 5 March 2013)
Table of ContentsNotes on Contributors x
Abbreviations xiv
Introduction xv
Peter McPhee
PART I THE ORIGINS AND NATURE OF THE CRISIS OF 1789 1
1 Rethinking the Origins of the French Revolution 3
Peter Campbell
2 The Social and Economic Crisis in France at the End of the Ancien Régime 24
Jean-Pierre Jessenne
3 The Cultural Origins of the French Revolution 42
Sarah Maza
4 France and the Atlantic World 57
Miranda Spieler
PART II RESHAPING FRANCE, 1789–91 73
5 The Principles of 1789 75
Michael P. Fitzsimmons
6 Reimagining Space and Power 91
Alan Forrest
7 “The Case against the King,” 1789–93 107
Barry M. Shapiro
PART III CHURCH, STATE, AND WAR 121
8 The Ancien Régime , Catholic Europe, and the Revolution’s Religious Schism 123
Dale Van Kley
9 The Origins and Outcomes of Religious Schism, 1790–99 145
Edward J. Woell
10 A Tale of Two Narratives: The French Revolution in International Context, 1787–93 161
Thomas E. Kaiser
PART IV CONTESTING THE LIMITS OF REVOLUTION 179
11 Whose Revolution? 181
Serge Aberdam
12 Gender, Sexuality, and Political Culture 196
Anne Verjus
13 The Peasantry, Feudalism, and the Environment, 1789–93 212
Noelle Plack
PART V REVOLUTIONARY AND COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY VIOLENCE 229
14 Urban Crowds, Riot, Utopia, and Massacres, 1789–92 231
Donald Sutherland
15 The Vendée, Chouannerie, and the State, 1791–99 246
Jean-Clément Martin
PART VI POLITICAL CHOICE AND PRACTICE 261
16 Friends, Enemies, and the Role of the Individual 263
Marisa Linton
17 Choosing Revolution and Counter-Revolution 278
Peter M. Jones
18 The Course of the Terror, 1793–94 293
David Andress
PART VII SEARCHING FOR STABILITY, 1794–99 311
19 The Thermidorian Reaction 313
Laura Mason
20 The Political Culture of the Directory 328
James Livesey
21 The New Security State 343
Howard G. Brown
22 The White Terror: Factions, Reactions, and the Politics of Vengeance 359
Stephen Clay
PART VIII THE REVOLUTION IN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE 379
23 The International Repercussions of the French Revolution 381
Mike Rapport
24 Slavery and the Colonies 397
Frédéric Régent
25 The Revolutionary Mediterranean 419
Ian Coller
PART IX CHANGE AND CONTINUITY IN FRANCE 435
26 A Revolution in Political Culture 437
Isser Woloch
27 The Economy, Society, and the Environment 454
Peter McPhee
28 The French Revolution and the Family 470
Suzanne Desan
29 The Revolution in History, Commemoration, and Memory 486
Pascal Dupuy
Index 503
