An Unofficial 'The Rest Is History' Reading List

481. The French Revolution: The Women's March on Versailles (Part 7)

August 07, 2024

Description

By the summer of 1789 the different sections of the Revolution were at loggerheads, and the recently created National Assembly riven in two. Both factions, the radicals on the left and the more...
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Books Referenced

Citizens

Author: Simon Schama

Context:

Referenced when discussing the revolutionary police state, specifically: 'Schama in Citizens describes it as the first organ of a revolutionary police state.' The transcript appears to have 'Sharma' which is likely a transcription error for 'Schama.'

Reflections on the Revolution in France

Author: Edmund Burke

Context:

Referenced in discussion of how Burke portrayed Marie Antoinette: 'It absolutely is, which is why he situates Marie Antoinette in the way he does in his Jeremiah against the Revolution.' Also mentioned later when discussing how British writers told the revolution story 'from Burke onwards.'

The French Revolution: A History

Author: Thomas Carlyle

Context:

Referenced as one of the British writers who told the story of the French Revolution with 'fascinated horror' through the eyes of Marie Antoinette and the aristocracy: 'French people always say the British in particular love telling the story from Burke onwards, Carlisle, Dickens.'

A Tale of Two Cities

Author: Charles Dickens

Context:

Referenced alongside Burke and Carlyle as British writers who told the French Revolution story through the perspective of the aristocracy: 'They love to tell the story through the eyes, you know, with a sense of horror, fascinated horror at the revolution.'