A Companion to the French Revolution

The French Revolution is one of the great turning–points in modern history. Never before had the people of a large and populous country sought to remake their society on the basis of the principles of popular sovereignty and civic equality. The drama, success, and tragedy of their endeavor, and of the attempts to arrest or reverse it, have attracted scholarly debate for more than two centuries. Why did the Revolution erupt in 1789? Why did it prove so difficult to stabilize the new regime? What factors caused the Revolution to take its particular course? And what were the consequences, domestic and international, of a decade of revolutionary change? Featuring contributions from an international cast of acclaimed historians,  A Companion to the French Revolution addresses these and other critical questions as it points the way to future scholarship. 

Notes on Contributors x Abbreviations xiv Introduction xv Peter McPhee PART I THE ORIGINS AND NATURE OF THE CRISIS OF 1789 1 1 Rethinking the Origins of the French Revolution 3 Peter Campbell 2 The Social and Economic Crisis in France at the End of the Ancien Régime 24 Jean–Pierre Jessenne 3 The Cultural Origins of the French Revolution 42 Sarah Maza 4 France and the Atlantic World 57 Miranda Spieler PART II RESHAPING FRANCE, 1789–91 73 5 The Principles of 1789 75 Michael P. Fitzsimmons 6 Reimagining Space and Power 91 Alan Forrest 7 “The Case against the King,” 1789–93 107 Barry M. Shapiro PART III CHURCH, STATE, AND WAR 121 8 The Ancien Régime , Catholic Europe, and the Revolution’s Religious Schism 123 Dale Van Kley 9 The Origins and Outcomes of Religious Schism, 1790–99 145 Edward J. Woell 10 A Tale of Two Narratives: The French Revolution in International Context, 1787–93 161 Thomas E. Kaiser PART IV CONTESTING THE LIMITS OF REVOLUTION 179 11 Whose Revolution? 181 Serge Aberdam 12 Gender, Sexuality, and Political Culture 196 Anne Verjus 13 The Peasantry, Feudalism, and the Environment, 1789–93 212 Noelle Plack PART V REVOLUTIONARY AND COUNTER–REVOLUTIONARY VIOLENCE 229 14 Urban Crowds, Riot, Utopia, and Massacres, 1789–92 231 Donald Sutherland 15 The Vendée, Chouannerie, and the State, 1791–99 246 Jean–Clément Martin PART VI POLITICAL CHOICE AND PRACTICE 261 16 Friends, Enemies, and the Role of the Individual 263 Marisa Linton 17 Choosing Revolution and Counter–Revolution 278 Peter M. Jones 18 The Course of the Terror, 1793–94 293 David Andress PART VII SEARCHING FOR STABILITY, 1794–99 311 19 The Thermidorian Reaction 313 Laura Mason 20 The Political Culture of the Directory 328 James Livesey 21 The New Security State 343 Howard G. Brown 22 The White Terror: Factions, Reactions, and the Politics of Vengeance 359 Stephen Clay PART VIII THE REVOLUTION IN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE 379 23 The International Repercussions of the French Revolution 381 Mike Rapport 24 Slavery and the Colonies 397 Frédéric Régent 25 The Revolutionary Mediterranean 419 Ian Coller PART IX CHANGE AND CONTINUITY IN FRANCE 435 26 A Revolution in Political Culture 437 Isser Woloch 27 The Economy, Society, and the Environment 454 Peter McPhee 28 The French Revolution and the Family 470 Suzanne Desan 29 The Revolution in History, Commemoration, and Memory 486 Pascal Dupuy Index 503

Peter McPhee is Professorial Fellow at the University of Melbourne. His publications include Living the French Revolution 1789–1799 (2006) and Robespierre: A Revolutionary Life (2012). A Fellow of both the Australian Academy of the Humanities and the Academy of Social Sciences, he was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 2012 for service to education and the discipline of history.

“The Revolution will never be exhausted as a subject of historical interest; this volume is an excellent survey of the current state of research.”  ( Reference Reviews, 1 November 2013) "Of greatest interest to specialists and graduate students, this will be an important acquisition for collections serving this readership. Summing Up: Essential. Upper–division undergraduates and above.”  ( Choice , 1 October 2013) “Highly recommended for anyone with an interest in the Revolution, but especially an interest in modern scholarship.”  ( Reading Treasure , 5 March 2013)