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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 944.04
EAN: 9780375760228
ISBN: 0375760229
Label: Modern Library
Manufacturer: Modern Library
Number Of Items: 1
Book Pages: 848
Publication Date: 2002-05-14
Publisher: Modern Library
Product Release Date: 2002-05-14
Studio: Modern Library

The book that established Thomas Carlyle’s reputation when first published in 1837, this spectacular historical masterpiece has since been accepted as the standard work on the subject. It combines a shrewd insight into character, a vivid realization of the picturesque, and a singular ability to bring the past to blazing life, making it a reading experience as thrilling as any novel. As John D. Rosenberg observes in his Introduction, The French Revolution is “one of the grand poems of [Carlyle’s] century, yet its poetry consists in being everywhere scrupulously rooted in historical fact.”

This Modern Library Paperback Classics edition, complete and unabridged, is unavailable anywhere else.

Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Odd for a History, but Valuable for its Oddity
Review: This is indeed a very strange work of history; Carlyle narrates the events of the Revolution as those of a Victorian novel. It is difficult to convey a true sense of the hyper-dramatic prose that results, so it might be better to include some excerpts from the text:

The surrender of the Bastille:

"For four hours now has the World-Bedlam roared: call it the
World-Chimaera, blowing fire! The poor Invalides have sunk under their
battlements, or rise only with reversed muskets: they have made a white
flag of napkins; go beating the chamade, or seeming to beat, for one
can hear nothing. The very Swiss at the Portcullis look weary of firing;
disheartened in the fire-deluge: a porthole at the drawbridge is opened,
as by one that would speak. See Huissier Maillard, the shifty man! On
his plank, swinging over the abyss of that stone-Ditch; plank resting
on parapet, balanced by weight of Patriots,--he hovers perilous: such
a Dove towards such an Ark! Deftly, thou shifty Usher: one man already
fell; and lies smashed, far down there, against the masonry! Usher
Maillard falls not: deftly, unerring he walks, with outspread palm. The
Swiss holds a paper through his porthole; the shifty Usher snatches
it, and returns. Terms of surrender: Pardon, immunity to all! Are they
accepted?--"Foi d'officier, On the word of an officer," answers half-pay
Hulin,--or half-pay Elie, for men do not agree on it, "they are!" Sinks
the drawbridge,--Usher Maillard bolting it when down; rushes-in the
living deluge: the Bastille is fallen! Victoire! La Bastille est prise!"

The execution of Robespierre:

"At four in the afternoon, never before were the streets of Paris seen so
crowded. From the Palais de Justice to the Place de la Revolution, for
thither again go the Tumbrils this time, it is one dense stirring mass;
all windows crammed; the very roofs and ridge-tiles budding forth human
Curiosity, in strange gladness. The Death-tumbrils, with their motley
Batch of Outlaws, some Twenty-three or so, from Maximilien to
Mayor Fleuriot and Simon the Cordwainer, roll on. All eyes are on
Robespierre's Tumbril, where he, his jaw bound in dirty linen, with
his half-dead Brother, and half-dead Henriot, lie shattered; their
'seventeen hours' of agony about to end. The Gendarmes point their
swords at him, to shew the people which is he. A woman springs on
the Tumbril; clutching the side of it with one hand; waving the other
Sibyl-like; and exclaims: "The death of thee gladdens my very heart,
m'enivre de joie;" Robespierre opened his eyes; "Scelerat, go down to
Hell, with the curses of all wives and mothers!"--At the foot of the
scaffold, they stretched him on the ground till his turn came. Lifted
aloft, his eyes again opened; caught the bloody axe. Samson wrenched
the coat off him; wrenched the dirty linen from his jaw: the jaw fell
powerless, there burst from him a cry;--hideous to hear and see. Samson,
thou canst not be too quick!"

The book succeeds in portraying such of the more dramatic events of the Revolution with a striking immediacy that makes the book worthwhile. At other points, however, Carlyle frustrates by including lengthy passages of melodramatic commentary.

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Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Lost its main point way to fast
Review: This book falls into the classification of most French Revolution books that I have read. It loses focus in the complexity of the revolution and gets bogged down in way to much detail. Even if you know a lot about the revolution the analysis is too much and distracts from whatever his overall point is which was lost by about page 20. I had a hard time getting through it and if I had not needed to read it for class I would have stopped after the first 50 pages. Try the French Revolution and the Ancien Regime by Collins for a much better look at the French Revolution.

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Customer Rating:
Review Summary: Unique Insight
Review: "The French Revolution: A History" is an important book to learn about the French Revolution. Thomas Carlyle describes the interesting characters, turbulent events and the chaotic period of the Revolution.

The book was first published in 1837, thus benefitting from first hand account of events in the Revolution. This has its pros and cons to the value of the book since such first hand influence could dilute the objectivity of the author. However, Thomas Carlyle managed to produce a vivid and thoughtful account of events and leading characters involved in the Revolution.

The author uses a unique prose style which some readers may find interesting and poetic whilst others may find hard to comprehend. However, if looked at from its historical context, the writing style should make sense, particularly to those already familiar with the subject.

This is an informative and insightful book that is well worth reading.

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Customer Rating:
Review Summary: at least give it a go
Review: Definitely a classic. Don't be put off by the warnings other reviewers have about unfamiliar words and phrases: like any great writer, Carlyle does the work of presenting every event and person in a way to give us a feel for what was going on--at least in his vision of what happened between 1789-94 in France. The prose isn't straightforward, but you can get a summation of events straight from any encyclopedia or textbook: what Carlyle does is go much, much more in depth. Terms like 'Sansculottism' or 'sea-green Robespierre' bring very vivid impressions by the time you get near the end, and his insights into character and motive are amazingly vivid (no wonder George Eliot was impressed!)
This history does indeed read like a novel, and it really is quite good. Yes, there are unusual words and phrases (like Shakespeare, Carlyle coined and invented words, several now currently used in the language). That's all part of the fun though. The Modern Library edition has a good introduction, plus a timeline of events to orient you better while reading.
A very worthwhile and satisfactory book, current tastes not withstanding.

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Customer Rating:
Review Summary: More of a Prose of the Intellect of the Writer
Review: The author Thomas Carlyle presents the history of the French Revolution as a prophetic poetry of his intellect, and rightfully burned on his presentation for review. As reading this book realize the great store of words and meanings that suited his direction rather than the true nature of the French Revolution of the peoples. What an awful book!

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