Origins of the French Revolution

Rating:
Summary: Origins of the French Revolution
Review: Origins of the French Revolution is a comprehensive review of the corrupted and doomed Bourbon regime. It is rich in detail and facts about the reigns of Louis XIV through Louis XVI. The book is divided into three parts: Writings on Revolutionary Origins Since 1939, The Breakdown of the Old Regime, and The Struggle for Power. And in each of these sections important chapters are introduced for discussion. Doyle takes the three sectors of society during that time--the nobility, clergy, and bourgeoise--and analyzes their individual roles in bringing the revolution about. Both the good and bad sides of these sectors of society is clearly revealed and their strengths and weaknesses also. Doyle covers the posiiton of the nobility especially well. He offers an interesting view on the nobility that is usually not seen in other books discussing the French Revolution. The other sections of this book is great in detail also, such as the chapters discussing the government organization and the ministers who tried to implement reform. The book is somewhat difficult to understand because of the wealth of detail within it, but one can clearly say that without drastic reform the French government was hopeless. Overall it was a dry read but for people who are interested in the details of the revolution this will be a great read.

Rating:
Summary: Origins of the French Revolution
Review: Origins of the French Revolution is a comprehensive review of the corrupted and doomed Bourbon regime. It is rich in detail and facts about the reigns of Louis XIV through Louis XVI. The book is divided into three parts: Writings on Revolutionary Origins Since 1939, The Breakdown of the Old Regime, and The Struggle for Power. And in each of these sections important chapters are introduced for discussion. Doyle takes the three sectors of society during that time--the nobility, clergy, and bourgeoise--and analyzes their individual roles in bringing the revolution about. Both the good and bad sides of these sectors of society is clearly revealed and their strengths and weaknesses also. Doyle covers the posiiton of the nobility especially well. He offers an interesting view on the nobility that is usually not seen in other books discussing the French Revolution. The other sections of this book is great in detail also, such as the chapters discussing the government organization and the ministers who tried to implement reform. The book is somewhat difficult to understand because of the wealth of detail within it, but one can clearly say that without drastic reform the French government was hopeless. Overall it was a dry read but for people who are interested in the details of the revolution this will be a great read.

Rating:
Summary: Brisk, analytical and direct
Review: There is of course a daunting amount of literature on the French Revoloution which often means that first-time students are often faced with a lottery concerning the book they choose. This book has no pretentions whatsoever to being all encompassing or a psycho-sociological analysis of the revoloution itself. Dealing with the pre 1789 period it is an admirably clear re-examination of the fall of the ancient regime. Comprehensively written and free of academic snobbery it charts the relaxation of rigid absoloutism and the development both of coherent political opposition and a relevant public opinion, both concepts that were unheard of in the archetypal monarchy of Loius XIV. Seditious pamphlets that had traditionally been confined to exile in the Netherlands found their way back into France and criticism of the establishment grew in a crescendo: the street and the parlements echoing one another and feeding in confidence off of one another. Doyle thus lands us in the years immediately prior to 1789 and guides us through the domino series of economic ministers, victims of the sustained, and now infamous financial crisis that so relentlessly exposed the dire infrastructure of French government. Finally we are presented with a synopsis of events that led to the walls of the Bastille and a conclusion: all in all less than 200 pages. This is a very businesslike book with no room for sentiment, philosophy or lyricism but in its digestible form, leaves the reader clear on the major points, a task many other histories have failed in. Reccomended for anyone looking for a clear explanation for the end of the ancien regime.