This is the best history of the French Revolution I have ever read, even if it betrays a very disturbing pro-Israeli slant. 'Monumental...provocative and stylish, Simon Schama's account of the first few years of the great Revolution in France, and of the decades that led up to it, is thoughtful, informed and profoundly revisionist' Eugen Weber, The New York Times Book Review. Citizens: A Chronicle of The French Revolution, Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution. Forced to choose between the two he opted to read history at Christ’s College, Cambridge. From the New York Times review: "Mr. Schama is at his most powerful when denouncing the central truth of the Revolution: its dependence on organized (and disorganized) killing to attain. CITIZENS A Chronicle of the French Revolution. And Simon Schama’s history of the French Revolution, Citizens, has literary merit. That does not mean his characters live without social background, a lot of the finest writing in Citizens is about the cultural background: Schama is very strong, for instance, discussing the influence of a classical education and a Romantic view of the Roman Republic in creating ideals of sacrifice for the nation, etc; he is also strong discussing the influence of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, one of the villains of the story. I'll be looking for some explanation for all the civilized bloodletting. It is monumental. I hope the folks at the protests with the "liberty, equality, fraternity" signs understand that what they're saying isn't just a cool slogan. Meaning of CITIZENS: A CHRONICLE OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. Why? I just got lost in the maddening warrens of information/various characters. Stanford Libraries' official online search tool for books, media, journals, databases, government documents and more. Schama takes 700 odd pages to cover the period from 1778 to the death of Robespierre in 1794, something that other no less respectable historians manage to do in a fraction of the space. One of the great landmarks of modern history publishing, Simon Schama's Citizens- A Chronicle of the French Revolutionis the most authoritative social, cultural and narrative history of the French Revolution ever produced. 200 illustrations. It's a good corrective to the received wisdom that the French Revolution was a smashing success and one that should be used as a model for the present. CDN$ 34.00: CDN$ 20.05: MP3 CD, Audiobook, MP3 … With the emphasis on individuals and their actions, the collective becomes little more than the 'mob' equated with irrational violence - that's the case whether the mob is revolutionary or counter-revolutionary. He argues that the "terror" wasn't an anomaly--violence fueled the Revolution from the outset. His view is that violence was the heart and soul of the revolution, and indeed, the dilemma of those who were trying to run the country was always the question: should they appeal to the masses (incite violent insurrection) or should they strengthen the authority of the few (authority that could only be applied through military style or 'Terreur' violence)? And given that we spent... maybe two weeks on the French Revolution in 10th Grade and that I've been thinking about it so much for the past so long I wanted to read more about it. Wow! You know, it's that "history" thing. At school I studied Europe from the Treaty of Utrecht to 1789, and Britain from 1815 to to the outbreak of The Great War, neatly incising the Revolution itself from cause and result (I take Napoleon, whom Simon barely mentions, to. I've always adored Simon Schama's storytelling. Very exhaustive treatment of the French Revolution. Obviously a liberal, he probably had little sympathy with many of the social policies of Ronald Reagan or Margaret Thatcher, the dominating political figures in the U.S. and U.K. of the time, but he does accept their call for the dominance of the market economy and dresses this up in terms of rationality. A fresh view of Louis XVI's France. Members save with free shipping everyday! And when I studied it in 10th Grade history class I found it interesting, not realizing it was a seed that would grow and grow and grow until now when it is, really, one of the pieces of history that I find impossibly captivating. He does not, however, prove much of everything by what amounts to a rather unsystematic collection of facts and anecdotes. In a way Schama presents the Revolution in terms of melodrama, the good rationalists against the bad irrationalists. It makes the start of World War I seem simple and inevitable. Citizens-A-Chronicle-Of-The-French-Revolution 1/3 PDF Drive - Search and download PDF files for free. So what is Schama doing differently? A well written and detailed insight into the French Revolution - the pivotal series of events which a lot of myth has been overlayed. The topsy-turvy bloodlust of the Terror is well recorded, but it struck me that this could be seen as a semi-Civil war between the Federalist provinces and the Centralising Parisians. One of the great landmarks of modern history publishing, Simon Schama's Citizens- A Chronicle of the French Revolution is the most authoritative social, cultural and narrative history of the French Revolution ever produced. Citizens NPR coverage of Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution by Simon Schama. He takes other historians to task for either glossing over this aspect or dismissing it as a kind of necessary concomitant evil to the seismic shifts of change. It is an unapologetic narrative history and it organizes its complex story with a skill that should It might be the case that any work of history with literary merit tells us as … By Simon Schama. In the mixture of market economics and liberal social policies Schama looks forward to President Clinton and Obama in the U.S. and the New Labour project in the U.K. This can lead him to act as an apologist for the militia who open fire on crowds when they are "goaded beyond endurance." LibraryThing is a cataloging and social networking site for booklovers All about Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution by Simon Schama. When his parents moved to London he won a scholarship to Haberdashers’ Aske’s School where his two great loves were English and History. ... Citizens : a chronicle of the French Revolution by Schama, Simon. It is an unapologetic narrative history and it organizes its complex story with a skill that should be envied by many novelists. You should probably know a little bit about what's going on before you crack the covers. A broad and detailed history of the revolution. Citizens is a very well written history of the French Revolution covering a massive amount of events, details and personalities with a good deal of background to boot. A masterpiece of narrative history. Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution Publication date 1989 Topics Franse Revolutie Publisher New York : Knopf : Distributed by Random House Collection Shama traces the journey of a large dramatis personae, composed of figures both well-known and obscure, from the academic salons of the Ancien Regime, through the heady days of 1789 and down to the frenzied brutality of the Jacobin Terror. by Random House, Inc. (NYC), Citizens: Chronicle of the French Revolution. Citizens A Chronicle Of The French Revolution [Books] Citizens A Chronicle Of The French Revolution Getting the books Citizens A Chronicle Of The French Revolution now is not type of challenging means. Citizens : a chronicle of the French Revolution Item Preview remove-circle Share or Embed This Item. What I really lacked was an objective walkthrough of the facts; Simon Schama's take is not very detached – but his distinctive right wing (Thatcherite, Reaganomic) viewpoint only partially detracts from this account, while colouring it with the enthusiasm of a credible historian. I do quite like some of the goofier concepts that arose out of this period such as the French republican calendar and pompous public celebrations to egalité. Here he was taught, Simon Schama was born in 1945. The to. It was what made the Revolution revolutionary." I am no expert on the subject but I have read a few books on the French Revolution including "The Oxford history of the French Revolution" and "Twelve who Ruled". At school I studied Europe from the Treaty of Utrecht to 1789, and Britain from 1815 to to the outbreak of The Great War, neatly incising the Revolution itself from cause and result (I take Napoleon, whom Simon barely mentions, to be just as much a product of the Ancien Regime as Marat, Danton and Robespierre). Outstanding piece of narrative history that overturns many long held views on the origins and progress of the revolution. Citizens A Chronicle Of The French Revolution Kindle File Format Citizens A Chronicle Of The French Revolution Right here, we have countless ebook Citizens A Chronicle Of The French Revolution and collections to check out. I may try and come back to this at some future date but I probably need to find a more straight forward history to give me better fundamental schooling on the French Revolution. [Simon Schama] -- A best-selling history of the French Revolution in which author Dutch historian Schama concentrates on the human aspects of this frightful and monstrous blood-bath. [1,400 dead isn't very many by contemporary standards, but I ask you to bear in mind that the modern age was only just beginning, in the future people would do better. One of the hallmarks of Schama’s work is his flair for description: ‘he gets arcane matters to walk, in fact dance, off the page’ according to fellow historian Peter Hennessy. Get this from a library! I am ashamed to say I had to use Wikipedia to get the chronology straight. This is not necessarily bad. Can anyone recommend books that cover the Thermidorian Reaction up to the rise of Napoleon? He also. Citizens : a chronicle of the French Revolution. As such, it is a chronicle that leans more towards story-telling as opposed to rational analysis. The Scarlet Pimpernel I’ve always taken to be at least 50% claptrap, though not on any authority. In my Albionic ignorance there were many aspects I was not aware of (Louis XVI was only marginally condemned to execution, the Bastille only contained a handful of non-political prisoners, it was not a peasant v aristocracy revolution). I bought this book when it came out in 1988 for the 200th anniversary of the French Revolution. It's quite complex and Schama doesn't really ground things with solid timelines and exposition imo. Here he was taught by Sir John Plumb whose other students: Linda Colley, Roy Porter and John Brewer are now central to British historical thought. Schama does well to provide a lot of socio-economic context to the causes of the revolution and the political motivations. Which is an unsettling bias, because, while the French revolution and Reign of Terror were undoubtedly violent and insane, and while the guillotine did herald the mechanized mass-death that characterizes the 19th century and beyond and that reached perhaps its most chilling modern incarnation in the gas ovens of the Holocaust, nonetheless the ideals and aims of the revolution can't really be compared to those of National Socialism and it's a bit disingenuous, not to mention kind of icky, to so firmly compare the two. LibraryThing Review User Review - Westwest - LibraryThing. Welcome back. Although the Ancien Régime is not identified with the Rational, Schama obviously believes it had a certain potential to modernize - which seems to mean following the British example and becoming a constitutional monarchy. Simon Schama deftly refutes the contemporary notion that the French Revolution represented an uprising of the oppressed poor against a decadent aristocracy and corrupt court. One of the evils of the Revolution is that it politicized society, politics dominated culture and the economy. Schama takes 700 odd pages to cover the period from 1778 to the death of Robespierre in 1794, something that other no less respectable historians manage to do in a fraction of the space. Definition of CITIZENS: A CHRONICLE OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION in the Definitions.net dictionary. The most authoritative social, cultural and narrative history of the French Revolution, and one of the great landmarks of modern history publishing. The French Revolution by no means invented liberty-hat symbolism. I read this years ago but have been thinking about it a lot lately. Review: Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution User Review - Tim - Goodreads. And when I studied it in 10th Grade history class I found it interesting, not realizing it was a seed that would grow and grow and grow until now when it is, really, one of the pieces of history that I find impossibly captivating. Schama's thesis is that brutal violence was not just an unfortunate aspect of the Revolution but ... Consulter l'avis complet, I bought this book when it came out in 1988 for the 200th anniversary of the French Revolution. But having a large amount of data is a start. News, author interviews, critics' picks and more. Simon Schama, professor of history at Harvard University, discussed his recent work, [Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution]. If we consider Citizens not so much as a book about the French Revolution but a work of the late 1980s, Schama is an almost prophetic figure. But I doubt it. Schama's thesis is that brutal violence was not just an unfortunate aspect of the Revolution but ... Read full review. March 17th 1990 Click to read more about Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution by Simon Schama. However virtuous were the principles of the revolutionaries, he reminds us that their power depended on intimidation: the spectacle of death. The French Revolution was a watershed event in human history which lasted for around a decade from 5th May 1789 to 9th November 1799.Caused primarily due to a financial crisis, it began with the Storming of the Bastille and ended with the Coup of 18th Brumaire. But Schama also notes the Jacobins’ interference with the market, their increasing concern with inequalities and their attempts to create a more egalitarian economy through things such as price fixing – Schama views such things as irrational (or, at least, outrageous), but it is only so by Schama’s schema. In short, “From the beginning violence was the motor of revolution.” This is not, primarily, the conflict between the Ancien Régime and the Revolution or between monarchists and revolutionaries, but between Rationality and Irrationality. Starting with Part II there is a sequence and key aspects of the Revolution are well described, such as the seizure of the Bastille. Many important events took place during its course including the abolition of the monarchy and establishment of a republic in France. Schama's narrative account of the French Revolution allows events and people to guide the reader chronologically through the complicated maze of these turbulent years. Cluttered. Was Schama planning a sequel to this book? He just wanted to make maps and hang out with sailors. It has patiently sat on my shelves all these years and it was worth the wait. Which is not to say that this is a bad book. Schama likes to move from anecdote to broad history and at its best the anecdotes act as concise representations of the overall story – although at times they can become mannerisms, a strategy to give the long narrative a bit of colour. Schama surely succeeded in telling a detailed and suspenseful story of the French Revolution. I bought this book when it came out in 1988 for the 200th anniversary of the French Revolution. 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