A History of Modern France: Volume 2: From the 1st Empire to the 2nd Empire, 1799-1871

A History of Modern France #2

by Alfred Cobban

This second volume begins with the refashioning of French laws and institutions under Napoleon Bonaparte in 1799 and ends with the Commune of Paris in 1871. While there is an ample supply of "facts", this book devotes more attention to the great turning-points of the period aiming not to force agreement wih his own interpretation but rather to stimulate readers to ask their own questions and formulate their own judgements.

Genres: History, France, Nonfiction, European History

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1961

About the author

Cobban was educated at Latymer Upper School and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. Before his professorship [in French History] at University College, London, he was a lecturer in history at King's College in Newcastle-on-Tyne. He held a Rockefeller Fellowship for research in France and was a visiting professor at the University of Chicago and Harvard University.

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

France has certainly had its ups and downs, but, as this book shows, there has been a continuing struggle between the elites and the powerless which was certainly not resolved in the period covered in this book. One thing has been certain-the powerless have always had the power to rebel against those in power.
This history picks up after the French Revolution of 1789 and we see the rise, then decline and, finally, the fall of Napoleon and his empire in 1815. Then there's the return to monarchy, finally followed by the Second Republic in 1848. Then- a return to Napoleonic empire with the coup d'etat of 1851 and Napoleon III's taking power. Again, an attempt to build empire and increase France's position in the world (remember this was the Victorian Age and "Britannia ruled the waves") but this third Napoleon failed, first in Mexico (1861-1866), and then in war with Bismarck's Prussia.
The Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 ended disastrously with Napoleon III's surrender of his French Army at Sedan-and the establishment of a third republic. There was also another French Revolution with the revolt of the Commune in Paris in 1871, a revolt which was crushed with great ferocity by the republican forces. The republic lost 1,000 dead while the Communards lost at least 20,000. Once again, the conservatives had won but the struggle would go on....

[Davy Bennet Surf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mostly, I remember something about Napoleon in rags and the language that he used.

Just pulled from attic, it is 3 volumes.
Donating. Excellent. Read in 2007, all 3 volumes.

[Lauren Albert · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m undecided whether to read the last volume in this trilogy. This volume started weakly, got stronger and then fizzled. At least for me. I wouldn’t recommend it for someone not familiar with French history but I’m not sure who else would read this.

[Mohammad · Rating 4 out of 5]

واقعیت دارد که در این جامعه به شدت محافظه کار، ایدئولوژی ها غنا می یافت. تعداد آنها و گستردگی شان شاهدی بر دور شدن آنها از سودمندی است.
فرانسه غالبا نمونه ترسناکی از کشوری توصیف شده که سیاست آن در مسیری ایدئولوژی قابل مشاهده است.
تقابل میان عقلانیت سیاسی و سیاست تجربی که به مدت چهار سده چهره مسلط حیات سیاسی بریتانیا بوده است، در فرانسه به چشم نمی خورد.
(آلفرد کومان)

[Justin Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm much more interested in the drab and shabby eras of history than the Great Glorious Revolutions, so this one suited me well, because holy moly were these some drab and shabby decades. I might finally have my chronology right, I think? First Republic; First Empire; Bourbon Restoration; July Monarchy; Second Republic; Second Empire. Is that right? How many constitutions can one country go through?

This is old-school history, with a focus on the politics, but a little social and cultural thrown in. He gets through a lot in not many pages, and I imagine that anyone who doesn't know something already will get mighty lost.

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Couldn't call it a particularly entertaining read, but deals professionally with a fairly uninspiring era of French politics - the restoration, the second republic and the second empire. I have to say the French do not come out of this time very well: Cobban charts the clash between the idealism and the huge vested interests and compares it to events across the Channel in England where much more progress was achieved in terms of industrial strengthening and enfranchising ordinary men without the hyperbole and revolutionary ardour.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

much the same good and bad points as the first volume: it covers a huge amount for a couple of hundred pages, but it does it fairly clearly and manages to include some interesting points i wasn't previously aware of (for instance i knew that a number of important figures of the Second Empire, such as the Péreires, were or at least had been adherents to saint-simonisme, but not the extent to which it influenced foreign and domestic policy).

it was good enough that i'm now tempted to pick up the third volume if i see one in Oxfam.

[Bernard English · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought the treatment of Napoleon quite good. Having read numerous conflicting accounts of his impact on Europe, I always wavered as to whether there was any benefit to his rule. Cobban finally made it clear to me that on balance Europe would have been far better off without him. Can't blame people for still being fans of his. "Why Nations Decline" claims those areas in which France under Napoleon had a lot of influence industrialized more rapidly.

The other strength of the book, at least for me, is the excellent treatment of Vichy France. Far more nuanced than other accounts I've read. The French reaction to defeat is certainly more comprehensible to me after reading Cobban's account. Some of their behavior may be explained by a "masochistic pleasure in a defeat which they regarded as a punishment for sins of the Third Republic, for its corruption, materialism, and desertion of the political and spiritual ideals of traditional France."

I can only assume that had I been familiar with more French history, I would find much else in this book to value.

[Magnus Hovet · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of information. Should maybe have read volume 1 before. Cool insights on the lac of real changes in 19th century France for the normal person, interesting to see in what capacity the fact that he is English taint the tale he is writing