Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #34203 in Books
• Published on: 2004-06-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

DAILY MAIL
'An irreverent romp through the Gallic uprising...illuminating and funny'

OBSERVER
'A great read. Smart, comic non-fiction is clearly the future'

TIME OUT
'Steel writes with zip and earnestness, showing a keen eye for detail and an eagerness to impart knowledge. Terrific'

Customer Reviews

Brilliant, informative and funny....
Mark Steel's book manages the difficult trick of being both highly informative (he convincingly explains the importance of the French Revolution in shaping the modern world) and also very funny (on many occasions I found myself laughing out loud). While telling the story, he takes on conventional historians for their dubious assumptions about the causes of events. (Discussing those, especially Sharma, who seem to believe that the whole thing was caused by the agitation of a few thousand zealots, he observes: 'Revolutionary action does usually involve a committed minority, but that applies to state-led action as well. The difference is that then the minority become official heros. After the Battle of Britain, Winston Churchill didn't say, "Oh typical, just a handful of activists with big mouths and Spitfires."')
With amusing and sometimes self-depreciating anecdotes about his experiences in various left wing groups, this is definitely a good read. My only criticism is that some of the analogies he makes with modern events are so specific to the UK in the early 2000s, that readers from other parts of the world, or ten years hence, are bound to miss some of the jokes. Highly recommended for anyone who is a victim of modern historical education, and wants to know what the Revolution was really about.

Steel's sharper than scharma
Simon scharma this ain't. Thank god. Anyone who wants to understand our history (if we don't we can never understand our present) and anyone who likes comedy with a left leaning (mark Thomas, Bill Hicks, et al) will love this book. The intro alone encapsulates why history is seen as dry and dusty by a vast majority of the population, crusty teachers teaching facts by rote, TV programmes reaffirming airbrushed portraits of the past, Oxbridge educated TV historians benevolently patronising us mere mortals with their evident wealth of knowledge, Channel 5 'documentary' series discussing the sexual proclivities of various royals throughout history with re-enactments by out of work would be Ian McKellans. Steel overuses the device of analogies in the present: "that's like Tony Blair saying..." but most of the punch lines are so funny you forgive him this. Most importantly, I learnt a lot, I was vastly entertained and he's convinced me that a terrible wrong has been done to la revolution. As the blurb and reviewers say anyone who has ever been on a demo knows how authorities and the media distort the image and the message. We're living this in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine and here in the UK and US so the book has extra resonance for our times.

If only all history books were as easy to read
A very enjoyable and accessible book on the French Revolution. Definitely worth a look for anyone remotely interested in this subject.

Mark Steel describes the events of, and motivations behind, the Revolution very well. He illustrates neatly how the demonisation of key players happened and still persists today, and shatters the myths convincingly. He certainly convinced me that this was one of the most important revolutions in history.

Throughout the book, there are funny asides, comparing past events to present. Many of these are genuinely humourous, however, I felt that at times they were unnecessary because the events had been well described and more or less spoke for themselves. doesn't he trust the reader to get it?

I also felt that some of his observations were too 'modern' and may cause the book to date quickly, which would be a shame since his book really does go a long way to challenge prevailing views on the revolution.

I look forward to Mark's next historical outing, and if anyone is studying, or wants to study, the French Revolution, this is a good place to start.