Around age 20 I read parts of a volume on the French revolution, in a multi-volume set which took up several hand-spans on the public library shelf. I'm thinking it was Will Durant's The Story of Civilization.
Can you recommend a single volume on this subject? One that would not be too difficult to get hands on, new or preferably used.
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recommend a book on the French Revolution
Of all the books I read on the topic Albert Soboul's The French Revolution is the best.
First translated in 1974 from its original 1962 French edition it seems dated, but it is not. In the way of primary sources not much has been discovered from publication to date. Soboul writes from a left point of view. That is not a problem unless you are under the delusion that any history books concerning the past five or so centuries in Europe are written from a neutral standpoint.
First translated in 1974 from its original 1962 French edition it seems dated, but it is not. In the way of primary sources not much has been discovered from publication to date. Soboul writes from a left point of view. That is not a problem unless you are under the delusion that any history books concerning the past five or so centuries in Europe are written from a neutral standpoint.
[quote=""Tubby""]One seller wants US$176 for the book, but the other prices look fine.[/quote]Another wants $672.84 for a second-hand paperback copy "in acceptable condition". Free delivery, though, so you'd get a bargain after all. 
I've seen a few other discrepancies like that. Usually they involve out of print publications. I have a copy of a DVD that I bought for $25. A few years later I saw it for sale at $10 a pop. A couple of months ago I stumbled across a site that offered it for $999. "Bullshit", I thought, but a search revealed that not a single copy can be found at Ebay, Amazon or anywhere else. Not even on videotape. Occasionally, stuff like that tends to get re-released, though. Meanwhile I make a point of buying nothing ever from such greedy fuckheads. They all remind me of this psychopath:
I've seen a few other discrepancies like that. Usually they involve out of print publications. I have a copy of a DVD that I bought for $25. A few years later I saw it for sale at $10 a pop. A couple of months ago I stumbled across a site that offered it for $999. "Bullshit", I thought, but a search revealed that not a single copy can be found at Ebay, Amazon or anywhere else. Not even on videotape. Occasionally, stuff like that tends to get re-released, though. Meanwhile I make a point of buying nothing ever from such greedy fuckheads. They all remind me of this psychopath:
[quote=""Hermit""]Of all the books I read on the topic Albert Soboul's The French Revolution is the best.[/quote]
With only one suggestion being given to me, it was easy to decide what to order.
The previous owner knows history in more detail than I do, since page 128 has "the Archbishop of Autun" corrected in ink to "the Bishop of Autun."
I skimmed through the book and will now place it on my shelf of ~ 50 items to be read before I die.
With only one suggestion being given to me, it was easy to decide what to order.
The previous owner knows history in more detail than I do, since page 128 has "the Archbishop of Autun" corrected in ink to "the Bishop of Autun."I skimmed through the book and will now place it on my shelf of ~ 50 items to be read before I die.