Readings
Readings are also listed by session.
Required Readings
Doyle, William, ed. Old Regime France 1648-1788 (The Short Oxford History of France). New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2001. ISBN: 9780198731290.
Beik, William, ed. Louis XIV and Absolutism: A Brief Study with Documents. Boston, MA: Beford/St. Martins, 2000. ISBN: 9780312133092.
Voltaire. Treatise on Tolerance and Other Writings. Edited and translated by Simon Harvey. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2000. ISBN: 9780521649698.
Bell, David A. The Cult of the Nation in France: Inventing Nationalism, 1680-1800. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2001. ISBN: 9780674004474.
Supplemental Readings
de Tocqueville, Alexis. The Old Regime and the French Revolution. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1987. [Seminal work in the history of this period; first published in 1856, and still highly relevant.]
Jones, Colin. The Great Nation: France From Louis XIV to Napoleón. New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 2002. [The best recent one-volume study of this period in English.]
Furet, François, and Mona Ozouf. A Critical Dictionary of the French Revolution. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1989. [Very useful articles on major events, individuals, ideas, and institutions of the revolutionary period.]
Connelly, Owen. Blundering to Glory: Napoleon's Military Campaigns. Wilmington, DE: SR Books, 1999. [For those who want to read more on Napoleonic military history.]
Readings by Session
LEC # | TOPICS | READINGS |
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1 | Introduction | |
I. Absolutism | ||
2 | The Material World and the Political Background |
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3 | The Theory and Practice of Absolutism |
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4 | Taxes and Provincial Reform |
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5 | Theater, Art, and Politics | |
II. Enlightenment | ||
6 | Origins of the French Enlightenment |
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7 | The Encyclopédie | d'Alembert, Jean le Rond. "Preliminary Discourse." In Denis Diderot's The Encyclopedia: Selections. Edited by Stephen J. Gendzier. New York, NY: Harper and Row, 1967, pp. 1-12, 35-43. Browse the online Web site for English translations of Encyclopedia articles: The Encyclopedia of Diderot & d'Alembert - Collaborative Translation Project. (Read "Philosopher," and "Sunday.") Browse the French online version of the Encyclopedia at: The ARTFL Project. Be sure to look at the engravings for "chirurgie" and "imprimerie." |
8 | A Political Movement, I? |
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9 | A Political Movement, II? |
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10 | Spaces of the Public Sphere | |
III. Revolution | ||
11 | The Origins of the French Revolution |
![]() Web Site: Liberty, Equality, Fraternity: Exploring the French Revolution. (Read chapter 1, "Social Causes of the Revolution," and chapter 2, "Monarchy Embattled." Be sure to look at the material in the left-hand sidebars.) |
12 | The Problem of Nationalism I |
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13 | The Problem of Nationalism II |
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14 | 1789, the Abolition of Feudalism, and the Rights of Man |
![]() Web Site: Liberty, Equality, Fraternity: Exploring the French Revolution. (Read chapter 3, "Enlightenment and Human Rights." Be sure to read the "Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen," in the sidebar on page 1, and the "Declaration of the Rights of Women," in the sidebar on page 4.) |
15 | From Constitutional Monarchy to the Terror | Web Site: Liberty, Equality, Fraternity: Exploring the French Revolution. (Read all of chapter 4, "Paris and the Politics of Rebellion," and chapter 6, "The Monarchy Falls." Read pages 1 and 2 of the seventh chapter, "War, Terror, and Resistance." Be sure to look at the material in the left-hand sidebars.) |
16 | The Directory | Web Site: Liberty, Equality, Fraternity: Exploring the French Revolution. (Read pages 3-5 of chapter 7, "War, Terror, and Resistance." Be sure to look at the material in the left-hand sidebars.)![]() |
17 | The Revolution in Images and Song | |
IV. Empire | ||
18 | Napoléon: Debates | Web Site: Liberty, Equality, Fraternity: Exploring the French Revolution. (Read chapter 9, "The Napoleonic Experience." Be sure to look at the material in the left-hand sidebars.)![]() ![]() |
19 | Napoléonic Warfare |
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20 | The French Caribbean | Web Site: Liberty, Equality, Fraternity: Exploring the French Revolution. (Read chapter 8, "Slavery and the French Revolution." Be sure to look at the material in the left-hand sidebars.)![]() ![]() |
21 | Individual Consultation with Instructor | |
22 | Legacies | Web Site: Liberty, Equality, Fraternity: Exploring the French Revolution. (Read chapter 10, "Legacies of the Revolution." Be sure to look at the material in the left-hand sidebars.) |
23 | Visions of Empire | |
V. Final Projects | ||
24 | Individual Consultation with Instructor | |
25-26 | Oral Presentations | |
27 | Conclusion |