History book fail, rescue us from ignorance!

[almostlifesized.livejournal.com]

Hello, I'm Johanne. Pardon this, it's probably not good form to demand something in a first post!

Ehem. My History book, as anyone within screaming distance is aware, is crap. This bothers me, especially as my History teacher is an ignorant pig who deals very poorly with the slightest bit of critique, even when directed towards the copious mistakes in the book and not him. Pointing out to the class that it would be awfully difficult for one man (three guesses who) to be responsible for the entire Terror got me a proper scolding and probably a less-than-wonderful grade.

So, could any of you reccomend me some literature that deals with the lesser known aspects of the revolution, or that clears up some of the common misconceptions? Serious and academic, (semi-)serious and fun, Horrible Histories-style or a really brilliant biography or a documentary, it will all do as long as it will help me a) learn, obviously and b) smack my teacher in the face with my awesome skills.

I'd really appreciate it! :D
 

Comments

[disownmereturns.livejournal.com]

Lesser-known aspects? :)

Deborah Cadbury's The Lost King of France. It's about Louis XVII and the FrRev from the view of the Royal Family. Sort of...ah, in any case, the book is leaning toward the royalists.

[emma1794.livejournal.com]

I'm a big fan of Ruth Scurr's biography of Robespierre, Fatal Purity. It's about as non-biased as an historical account can get; it also makes for a really interesting read.

Love your icon btw. ;)

[almostlifesized.livejournal.com]

I'll look into it, I think I've heard it mentioned before. Thanks a lot!

[victoriavandal.livejournal.com]

Most libraries round here have sold off their 60's and 70's stock (the fools), but if you can find Norman Hampson's 'Life and Opinions of Maximilien Robespierre', it's well worth a look - it's not a typical history book (the title's a homage to Tristram Shandy), but it takes the form of a historian telling three people about Robespierre, who then debate various actions. It's an interesting approach, and I think it wasn't popular because it didn't conform to the notion of historian as authority figure. On different approaches to the revolution, I've just bought Huet's 'Mourning Glory' after reading an essay of hers a while ago (in the book 'Animal Acts') on Google books online - I've only skimmed it, but it looks interesting, and there's also Robert Darnton's various essays on 18thc culture. If you're looking for that sort of thing then there are quite a few books of essays by various historians that explore the byways - some of these are also up on google.

[almostlifesized.livejournal.com]

'Life and Opinions of Maximilien Robespierre' sounds brilliant! "it didn't conform to the notion of historian as authority figure," ah, music to my ears.

[trf-chan.livejournal.com]

Leigh Whaley's Radicals: Politics and Republicanism in the French Revolution is pretty good, and Mark Steel's Vive la Revolution is quite good for a laugh and to give you a general overview of the period, even if it makes a few minor factual errors and relies a lot on anecdotes. I really liked Mourning Glory, which victoriavandal already mentioned. And...um...I've heard anything by Timothy Tackett or Isser Woloch is good.

[almostlifesized.livejournal.com]

I'm reading 'Vive la Revolution' right now, I love it. I've only noticed a few mistakes, they put me off a bit because while I know enough to spot those, what if he messes up something that I'm not well-informed enough to notice? He is very funny, and I'm glad he points out that actions =/= opinions, my text book conveniently forgot that France did not turn super mega anti-royalist in one day. Everyone who makes fun of the current as well as past royal families is a friend of mine. <3

Will look into the rest. Are libraries open on Sundays? Hmm.

[asako-michiru.livejournal.com]

There's a very good book that I used for a paper saying just that but for the life of me I cannot remember what it was called. If I can find a saved copy of said paper though, I'll hook you up with the title--because like I said, I went in detail into the GOOD he did and how he DID NOT start the terror.

However in the meantime, this should help you with it's primary-source (in english!) data base:
http://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/
have fun smacking your teacher. 8D I have had that urge a few times.

[wolfshadow713.livejournal.com]

The primary source database mentioned above is quite useful. If you can read French at all, I'd suggest checking out http://www.royet.org/nea1789-1794/ihm/index_nea1789-1794.htm as well. It is amazing--has so much material.

As for books, I'd recomend reading David Andress' The Terror (or anything else he's written on the Revolution--the terror is so far the only one I've read in its entirity though). Andress' analysis of the Terror seems pretty fair in that, though it hardly absolves hte Robespierrists of guilt, it does acknowledge other factors beyond their immediate control that contributed (ie. the September Massacres were largely extrajudicial). R R Palmer's Twelve provides a detailed account of the Terror.
Georges Lefebvre's The Comming of the French Revolution provides a rather detailed overview of the social, economic, and political factors that led to the Revolution.
Also, I second the recomendation of Fatal Purity.
Having Simon Schama's Citizens on hand is a good thing, but I wouldn't recomend tryint to read it cover to cover. It is quite interesting, but quite dense in a way that can make it hard to separate the important facts from the anicdotes.

[hanriotfran.livejournal.com]

I think that "The Jacobins", by Crane Brinton will be excellent for your work. It's a classic and over all things, VERY serious. He pays little attention to important characters of the Revolution and tries to show that it was a mouvement shared by almost all France.

"Robespierre", by David P. Jordan would be a worthy source too. There's another more recent bibliography, but I think it's only available in French. Michel Biard's book about Collot d'Herbois it's great ("Collot d'Herbois") and also Haim Burstin studies about Sans-Culotte's mouvement.

HanriotFran (Vanesa)

[marieclaire08.livejournal.com]

Yes, The book by Jordan is really a fine examination of Robepierre. I really enjoy that one.

[citoyenneclark.livejournal.com]

Ha. School text books. My Western Civ. text book's chapter on the French Revolution started with a quote by Charles Dickens. It didn't help that the teacher teaching the book said, "Les Miserables was written by Alexandre Dumas"

[almostlifesized.livejournal.com]

Almostlifesized would reply, but her brain exploded.

Love,
fingers.

[wolfshadow713.livejournal.com]

Please don't say said teacher mentioned Les Miserables in context of a revolution?

[marieclaire08.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah. You haven't been reading the school books, have you? It's now been established that Les Miserables was about "the French Revolution." Oh, and so is the painting "Liberty Leading the People." ;)