Ruth Scurr

Was the French Revolution inevitable?

Robert Darnton traces the build-up of revolutionary sentiment during the reign of Louis XV before public anger finally erupted under his hapless successor

‘The Taking of the Bastille, 14 July 1789’, by Jean-Pierre Houel. [Bridgeman]

  • The Revolutionary Temper: Paris, 1748-1789

    Robert Darnton

    Allen Lane, pp. 576, £35

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