Barricades: The War of the Streets in Revolutionary Paris, 1830-1848

by Jill Harsin

From 1830 through 1848, Paris was rocked by two successful revolutions, three unsuccessful rebellions, and seven assassination attempts against King Louis-Philippe and his sons. Charles X was overthrown, Louis-Philippe restored order, and a revolutionary Republicanism emerged to challenge the status quo. Inspired by the Reign of Terror, the montagnard movement (as it came to be known) was characterized by violence, honor, and a romantic vision of heroism. But who were the men behind these rebellions? Using court records, newspapers, and memoirs, Jill Harsin introduces us to republican Parisians with astonishing tales of strife, massacre, and financial woes. She illuminates their hopes, dreams, fears and pain. These working class men gathered together and joined forces in an extraordinary battle for the security of their families and for their own dignity. The July Monarchy was an unparalleled, turbulent era, a period of both triumph and defeat. Barricades is a vigorous, spirited narrative that brings the fascinating heyday of the revolution to life in vivid detail. It is destined to stand as an enduring work on 19th century France.

Genres: History, France, Nonfiction, 19th Century

417 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extraordinarily well done, meticulously cited, and a very enjoyable read.

Harsin manages to avoid hagiography of the participants while still remaining deeply fair towards them and the circumstances that lead them to insurrection.

The hyper specificity of the text means I wouldn't recommend this to a new-comer to this period as she leaves larger scale political events somewhat unspecific and in earlier chapters the frequency of insurrections and uprisings means her narrative jumps around a bit with all the overlapping and intermixed secret societies, so a solid grounding in the basics of the July Monarchy is a necessity but if you've got that, this book is invaluable to understanding the political theory and praxis of the period.

[Elijah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Invaluable resource for information about the political struggles during the July Monarchy and up until the June Days of 1848. Informative, well-researched, with interesting details about individual incidents and people as well as broader patterns. I'd recommend this book for someone who is interested in 19th century French and/or revolutionary history, and who already has some basic knowledge about the time period.

[Annm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredibly good scholarship. Highly detailed and excellent for try research purposes.

[Bri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reread.

[Philip · Rating 4 out of 5]

The origin of "Les Miserables" (the book, the musical, the movie, the T-shirt) took place during the period of the "Barricades" -- 1830-1848 revolutionary Paris.
Victor Hugo himself was trapped during street fighting in Paris in 1832. He incorporated some of his own experiences into his 1862 novel. Most of the actual insurgent Republicans were construction workers, blue collar workers who felt economic and political oppression from the wealthy who still mantained aristrocratic privileges long after the French Revolution. The students came for the romance, the wine, the swashing and the buckling. These battles were often over in 2-3 days. Barricades were thrown up in narrow streets and had to blown apart by those loyal to the King. Seven attempts were made to kill King Louis-Philippe d'Orleans during this period. Assassination was not thought to be a proper Repulican (insurgent) tactic. Joseph Fieschi's spectacular attempt involved clamping 25 rifle barrels together and firing them all at once from a window. Eighteen people were killed but not the King.
The King abdicated in 1848. But France stumbled for another 22 years before the Third Republic was established.

[Aleksandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a non-specialist I must say I liked the book a lot: it was interesting, well writen, organized around little known (to me, at least) documents from the period. One of those books, in short, to reaffirm my recently discovered passion for history and reading about history.

[Lauren Albert · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found I couldn't focus on this. It may have been me and it may have been the book. I found the events confusing and I found it hard to keep track of the people involved.