the french revolution

from cursory research seems like a few of revolution historians disagree w him too

xxpost that looks like exactly what i’m after, thx Alfred!

schama shd turn his mind to the reckless and unrepentent smurfs imo

is Ruth Scurr's Fatal Purity any good? I bought the paperback but the print was too small and a struggle for my bad eyesight. I managed to acquire the e-book but seem to recall someone on here being unimpressed with it.

i enjoyed mike duncan's revolutions podcast on this particular revolution: he was good at clarifying who was thinking what and how this or that group's political stance could be genuinely radical one month and then cofusedly reactionary the next without having changed much in-between

I think "Twelve Who Ruled" was the first thing I read on the French Revolution - I've never read the Hilary Mantel novel - anyway it rules. "Robespierre: A Revolutionary Life" by Peter McPhee is also very good. Both are fairly favourable towards Robespierre. I wouldn't go anywhere near Simon Schama on this particular subject.

is Ruth Scurr's Fatal Purity any good? I bought the paperback but the print was too small and a struggle for my bad eyesight. I managed to acquire the e-book but seem to recall someone on here being unimpressed with it.

― calzino, Saturday

I mentioned it upthread. Solid as research but his identification with Robespierre gave me the creeps.

omg i forgot abt mike duncan’s revolutions podcast! i love him. maybe i’ll give that a go

i was listening to a different podcast abt the revolution but he keeps likening things to star wars & lord of the rings & game of thrones & it makes me deeply eyerolly

the haiti season of revolutions is short and dovetails nicely with the French Revolution one

update: i finished Popkin’s “A New World Begins” - it was exactly the kind of overview i needed
and really well-written. he has a lovely light touch that i appreciated

thx for the recommendation Alfred!

now i am digging into RR Palmer’s “Twelve Who Ruled” and i am loving it

it’s surprising that his conversational-style narrative was written in the 1940’s. Quite a fresh take for the times!

Forgot about TWELVE WHO RULED.

omg it’s so freaking good!!
i’m halfway through