Lectures on the French Revolution

by John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton

This collection of the lectures of Lord Acton on the French Revolution comprises a disciplined, thorough, and elegant history of the actual events of the bloody episode. It is as thorough a record as could be constructed in Acton’s time of the actions of the government of France during the Revolution. Delivered at Cambridge University between 1895 and 1899, Lectures on the French Revolution is a distinguished account of the entire epochal chapter in French experience by one of the most remarkable English historians of the nineteenth century. In contrast to Burke a century before, Acton is not concerned with condemning the Revolution, but in providing an accurate history of its advent, its bloody action, and its aftermath. There are twenty-two essays in the collection, commencing with “The Heralds of the Revolution,” in which Acton presents a taxonomy of the intellectual ferment that preceded and prepared the Revolution. An important appendix explores “The Literature of the Revolution,” offering assessments of the accounts of the Revolution written during the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries by, among others, Burke, Guizot, and Taine. Stephen J. Tonsor is Professor Emeritus in History at the University of Michigan. He is a longtime student of the history of Germany and of Lord Acton.

Genres: History, France, French Revolution, Politics, 18th Century, Essays

350 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1910

About the author

John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton, and usually referred to simply as Lord Acton, was an English historian.

Reviews

[Szplug · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who writes like this anymore? Lord Acton's mellifluously measured, sober prose is Whigging me out. An immensely and impressively wise, learned, considered, and impartial reflection upon the French Revolution—the best I've ever encountered, if truth be told (well, Carlyle is right up there, from what I've read, but it is of an entirely different timber...)

[Tom Newman · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a confusing mess was the French Revolution. This book does not help. It assumes you have a good understanding of the history. Without that, it is very difficult to follow.