The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 55, July 1951 - April, 1952 Page: 434
562 p. : ill. (some col.), ports., maps (some col.) ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
The division, "Texts," which comprises most of the book is
carefully selected and with few exceptions restricted to those
quoted in standard manuals. The chapters each delineate, a major
revolutionary stage, dealing with the "Estates General," "Na-
tional Constituent Assembly," "Reign of Terror," "Thermidorian
Reaction," and the "Directory." Each of these is preceded by a
brief historical summary. The sections falling within each chap-
ter, as well as the documents within each section, also contain a
short critical evaluation for the student's guidance.
The author felt obliged to append a concluding chapter, point-
ing to the lack of such in similar manuals. He attributes this to
a basic cleavage of opinion over the outcome of the revolution,
still persistent to this day. The point is, however, overstressed
when he states that "Frenchmen are still living and fighting their
revolution." Or if they are, the academic debate has certainly
been processed by three subsequent revolutions and a threaten-
ing fourth. Undoubtedly the revolution of 1789-if indeed we
can legitimately disentangle its arbitrary dates from a continuous
process-created a break from the past. But was that schism "so
profound that time has not softened the acerbity of opposing
factions"? De Tocqueville did not think so ten years after, and
post-revolutionary history has witnessed a remarkable revival of
much of that which it had allegedly destroyed. The author does
not stress this fact enough though carefully distinguishing the
"apparent" from the "real" achievements of the revolution.
Though we may not all agree with the concluding remarks,
this book forms an invaluable help to the student of history who
feels he can discard the innumerable more conventional text-
books of today and by consulting the original documents them-
selves, with the help of the introductory survey at his disposal,
is prepared to use his critical faculties sufficiently to write his
own concluding chapter.
R. R. FLORESCU434
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 55, July 1951 - April, 1952, periodical, 1952; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101139/m1/508/?rotate=270: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.