num_pages: 644
description: With an Introduction by George Woodcock.With the international celebrations of the French Revolution as background, the publication of Peter Kropotkin's classic with an introduction by George Woodcock represents the fulfilment of an important documentary need.The turbulent upheaval that swept in the first mighty revolution in the West, and which had such far ranging consequences, has subsequently been described by a thousand differing pens. From the King's summoning of the Estates General in 1789 to the establishment of the Directory in 1793, the revolution has had many interpretations. But Kropotkin is among the very few who analyses this drama not only as a complex interplay of its leading personalities or a chain of political decisions made from above; rather, he penetrates this surface confusion to describe a great reordering of the economic bases of the ancien régime by the mass of urban workers and the peasantry. He saw the redistribution of land impeded at every step by an aggrandising middle class and by the forces of the counter-revolution inside and outside France.Kropotkin, as a true historian, was not concerned with merely the period he discussed. He saw it as a climax in a long past and future development. The result is a very skillful and absorbing book, with great momentum, an active and readable style, and a capable use of a mass of details regarding the most obscure but no less important aspects of the French Revolution.First published in 1909 and long out of print, The Great French Revolution is the finest historical writing from the fluent pen of Peter Kropotkin (1842-1921). The introduction by George Woodcock, the celebrated Canadian author, throws a modern light on the significance and scope of Kropotkin's contribution.Table of ContentsAn Introduction By George WoodcockPrefaceChapter 1: The Two Great Currents of the RevolutionChapter 2: The IdeaChapter 3: ActionChapter 4: The People before the RevolutionChapter 5: The Spirit of the RiotsChapter 6: The Convocation of the States-General becomes NecessaryChapter 7: The Rising of the Country Districts during the Opening Months of 1789Chapter 8: Riots in Paris and its EnvironsChapter 9: The States-GeneralChapter 10: Preparations for the Coup d'EtatChapter 11: Paris on the Eve of the FourteenthChapter 12: The Taking of the BastilleChapter 13: The Consequences of July 14 at VersaillesChapter 14: The Popular UprisingsChapter 15: The TownsChapter 16: The Peasant UprisingChapter 17: August 4 and its ConsequencesChapter 18: The Feudal Rights remainChapter 19: Deceleration of the Rights of MenChapter 20: The Fifth and Sixth of October 1789Chapter 21: Fears of the Middle Classes – the New Municipal OrganizationChapter 22: Financial Difficulties – Sale of Church PropertyChapter 23: The Fete of the FederationChapter 24: The “Districts” and the “Sections” of ParisChapter 25: The Sections of Paris Under the New Municipal LawChapter 26: Delays in the Abolition of the Feudal RightsChapter 27: Feudal Legislation in 1790Chapter 28: Arrest over the Revolution in 1790Chapter 29: The Flight of the King – Reaction – End of the Constituent AssemblyChapter 30: The Legislative Assembly – Reaction in 1791-1792Chapter 31: The Counter-Revolution in the South of FranceChapter 32: The Twentieth of June 1792Chapter 33: The Tenth of Its Immediate ConsequencesChapter 34: The Interregnum – The BetrayalsChapter 35: The September DaysChapter 36: The Convention – The Commune – The JacobinsChapter 37: The Government – Conflict with the Convention – The WarChapter 38: The Trial of the KingChapter 39: The “Mountain” and the “Gironde”Chapter 40: Attempts of the Girondins to Stop the RevolutionChapter 41: The “Anarchists”Chapter 42: The Cause of the Rising on May 31Chapter 43: Social Demands – State of Feeling in Paris – LyonsChapter 44: The War – The Rising in La Vendée – The Trechery DumoriezChapter 45: A New Rising Rendered InevitableChapter 46: The Insurrection of May 31 and June 2Chapter 47: The Popular Revolution – Arbitrary TaxationChapter 48: The Legislative Assembly and the Communal LandsChapter 49: The Lands Restored to the CommunesChapter 50: Final Abolition of the Feudal RightsChapter 51: The National EstatesChapter 52: The Struggle against Famine – The Maximum – Paper MoneyChapter 53: Counter-Revolution in Brittany – Assassination of MaratChapter 54: The Vendée – Lyons – The Risings in Southern FranceChapter 55: The War – The Invasion Beaten BackChapter 56: The Constitution – The Revolutionary MovementChapter 57: The Exhaustion of the Revolutionary SpiritChapter 58: The Communist MovementChapter 59: Schemes for the Socialisation of Land, Industries, Means of Subsistence and ExchangeChapter 60: The End of the Communist MovementChapter 61: The Constitution of the Central Government – ReprisalsChapter 62: Education – The Metric System – The New Calendar – Anti-Religious MovementChapter 63: The Suppression of the SectionsChapter 64: Struggle Against the HebertistsChapter 65: The Fall of the Hebertists – Danton ExecutedChapter 66: Robespierre and his GroupChapter 67: The TerrorChapter 68: The 9th Thermidor – Triumph of ReactionConclusion1989: 630 pages, index
language: English
title: French Revolution
titlecomplete: French Revolution
genres: France, Politics, Nonfiction, French Revolution, Sociology, History
ratings_count: 104
series: The Great French Revolution 1789-1793
publisher: Black Rose Books