Space, Time, and the French Revolution

From the Assembly of Notables to the National Assembly

Rumors and Plots

Background Reading
Censer and Hunt, Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, pp. 49-61.

Required Work
During this section of the course, you are expected to learn a basic chronological history of the 1780s-1790s (that is, to gain a core sense of "what happened, when"). Historians of the French Revolution often refer to "the tenth of August" without specifying a year; they mention "the flight to Varennes" without saying who fled. If you don't know what these terms, and others, mean, you will not be able to follow the remainder of this course.

In addition to taking careful notes in lecture and doing as much reading as possible, you will probably want to:

print a timeline so that you can note on it the significance of events (in your own words)

read through the Liberty, Equality, Fraternity timeline and use that website's "search" box to look up unfamiliar terms

print a list of important names and key terms—make sure you can identify them and explain their importance!

Further Reading
There are far more general histories of the French Revolution than I can list here. Some recent ones you may find helpful:

David Andress, French Society in Revolution (1999).

William Doyle, The French Revolution: a Very Short Introduction (2001)—this is available on-line, so you might want to start with it. Despite being "very short" and easy to get, it isn't necessarily an easy read, though.

Colin Jones, France: the Great Nation (2002), relevant chapters.

Peter McPhee, The French Revolution (2002).

Jeremy Popkin, A Short History of the French Revolution (1997).

Simon Schama, Citizens (1989).

Donald Sutherland, France, 1789-1799: Revolution and Counter-Revolution (1985).

"Liberty, Equality, Fraternity"—if you haven't
looked at this website yet, you should now!


short selections from three cahiers,
translated into English (at HistoryGuide)


Alexis de Tocqueville (portrait by
T. Chassériau, 1850), The Old Regime
and the French Revolution (1856)


Jules Michelet (portrait by T. Couture), History
of the French Revolution (1847)