The French people were the ones who ultimately paid the price, starving in the streets while their privileged leaders partied around the clock like it was already 1999.
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To make matters exponentially worse, the French lost against Great Britain during the Seven Years War in North America, effectively draining the bank as it were. Versailles: a 2,300 room, gold-plated, Sixty-Seven-THOUSAND-Square-Meter estate of PURE unadulterated EXCESS. This truly monstrous mansion would put every single house on MTV’s Cribs to shame. The Bourbon monarchy reigned from the palace of Versailles, Louis the 14 th’s palatial estate built 20 miles outside the districts of Paris, the nation’s capitol, far enough away from the stench of its open sewer system, and the complaints of the commoners. Prince Louis (the 16 th) was a reluctant ruler, with little to no interest in politics, and became the default king of France during the worst crisis of his country’s history in 1765. This began an unprecedented drive for equality and individual rights which would ultimately challenge the hierarchy of the monarchy based government system.Įnter: the Bourbon King, Louis XVI (yes, that’s Louis the SIXTEENTH). The Enlightenment, or Age of Reason, was an extension of the Italian Renaissance (meaning ‘Rebirth’), which brought new emphasis on discovery, and a search for truth and meaning through critical thinking, rather than just listening to what ‘they’ wanted you to think. Kinda like if Morpheus was going door to door with red pills and pamphlets about how the machines are harvesting our bodies as living batteries while we’re living our lives in virtual reality, “No one can be told what is, you have to see it for yourself.” There are weightier tomes that delve deeper into the ideologies behind the Revolution, but if you want a straightforward, easy to read account of those momentous years, you can do no worse than this book.The Enlightenment was a grass-roots movement that caused the underrepresented 99% to question EVERYTHING. The Terror, the final submission to dictatorship as Bonaparte stamps his authority on the remnants of the Revolutionary Councils. The lurches from Left to Right and back again. All the major events are covered in detail, both their build up and outcome.
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The Revolutionaries were in uncharted waters as soon as they killed the king and the vying for position amongst the various faction became ever more bloody and bitter post 1789.Īll the big names are here, Danton, Marat, Robespierre and of course Bonaparte. Hibbert does not shy from the bare facts of the number of people, both aristocrat and peasant, who were guillotined in the name of Liberty. Easy to read and concise, this book focuses on the events and personalities that forced through revolutionary change, although maybe at the expense of a fuller exploration of the ideologies behind those changes.īacked up by quotes from contemporary accounts, the Revolution unfolds over 300 odd pages in all it's bloody glory.
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Hibbert's The French Revolution is an account of the events aimed clearly at the general reader.