Origins of the French Revolution

PETER R. CAMPBELL is Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Sussex, UK. He has written widely on the ancien regime and his books include The Ancien Regime in France (1988), Louis XIV (1993) and Power and Politics in Old Regime France (1996).

• List of TablesIntroduction: The Origins of the French Revolution; P.R.CampbellThe Financial Origins of the French Revolution; J.FelixDecision-Making; J.HardmanThe Paris Parlement in the 1780s; P.R.CampbellFrom Social to Cultural History; W.ScottThe Intellectual Origins of the French Revolution; M.LintonThe Religious Origins of the French Revolution, 1560-1791; D.van KleyThe Contested Image: Stage, Canvas and the Origins of the French Revolution; M.LedburyThe Pamphlet Debate Over the Organization of the Estates General; K.MargerisonPeasants and their Grievances; J.MarkoffFrom The Estates-General to the National Assembly, May 5 August 4, 1789; M.P.FitzsimmonsGlossaryChronologyList of AbbreviationsNotesFurther ReadingNotes on ContributorsIndex.

'This highly readable collection of essays written by cutting-edge historians expertly guides students and advanced scholars through the controversies over the origins of the French Revolution.' - Thomas E. Kaiser, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, USA 'This is a book that deserves serious scholarly attention as well as evaluation as a student reader...I find much to recommend the approach of this book. The attention to detail and the quality of research are both impressive. More important, the theme of these articles highlights an emphasis on politics and contingency too often ignored in other histories...It forces those who would emphasize discourses, ideology, gender, and global perspectives to come to grips with the inexorability of politics that characterized daily life in that period.' - Jack R. Censer, George Mason University, H-France Review 'This collection is a welcomed addition as both students and scholars will benefit from its multi-faceted approach in explaining the causes of this great cataclysm. Above all it demonstrates that the best interpretive framework for understanding the French Revolution is one which incorporates socio-economic, political and cultural methods of explanation.' - Early Modern European History