What are some good books that analyze the French Revolution?

by Dingus_Mingus

I already checked the book list, it seems that the sources in the French section concentrate more on Napoleon than the revolution.

DonaldFDraper

The Days of the French Revolution by Christopher Hibbert is a good general history, but for deeper analysis of the Revolution, I would recommend the following books:

  • Engineering the Revolution: Arms & Enlightenment in France, 1763-1815 by Ken Alder, which focuses on the technological, social, and political aspects of retooling the French military to better fight in the future, which is important for later dominance under Napoleon's rule.

  • French Society in Revolution: 1789-1799 by David Andress is a more historical survey on society during the Revolution.

  • Twelve Who Ruled: The Year of the Terror in the French Revolution by R. R. Palmer which is one of the standard histories of the Terror, but again more of a professional history.

  • The Cult of the Nation in France: Inventing Nationalism, 1680-1800 by David A. Bell is a professional history on an aspect of the French Revolution that isn't focused on enough (in the larger discussions of the Revolution) but covers more than just the Revolution. It's important for the larger understanding of the Nationalizing aspect of the Revolution.

  • The Bayonets of the Republic: Motivation and Tactics in the Army of Revolutionary France, 1791-94 by John A. Lynn is one of the best books about the Revolutionary armies and how they fought/were made up of.

  • Contesting the French Revolution by Paul R. Hanson is a good series of essays about several aspects of the Revolution that I had to use in a class of mine, good but a little hard to read.

  • The People's Armies by Richard Cobb is a deep and detailed look at the Revolutionary Armies but I would still put Lynn's at the top for that.

I hope that this might be of some help, I am sure I have more books but this is all I could find with ease.

Edit: I found more books.

  • The French Nobility in the Eighteenth Century: From Feudalism to Enlightenment by Guy Chaussiand-Nogaret

  • The French revolution: Recent Debates & New Controversies Edited by Gary Kates

  • Fragile Lives: Violence, Power and Solidarity in Eighteenth-Century Paris by Arlette Farge

pablorobo

The French Revolution by Christopher Hibbert (Penguin in the Uk) has been my go to book but I'm not a historian ( my interest being the themes of The French Revolution in the art of Ian Hamilton Finlay). Perhaps professional historians can recommend something better and I'll read that with interest too.