France under the Directory - Softcover

Lyons, Martyn

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521099501 ISBN 13: 9780521099509

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1975

Synopsis

On 9 thermidor Year 2, Robespierre fell; on18 brumaire Year 8, a coup d'état brought Bonaparte to power. This book demonstrates that the interval between these two momentous events was also of crucial importance. Using the findings of recent research, it presents a balanced appraisal of the thermidorean and directorial regimes to the English student. For Jacobin sympathizers thermidor and the Directory represented the betrayal of the revolutionary idea; for Bonapartist propagandists it represented chaos and corruption, and the darker the Directory could be painted, the more Bonaparte's reputation would be flattered. Dr Lyons attempts to dispose of these myths. He stresses the Directory's successes as well as its failures, and emphasizes elements of continuity which link it both with the Jacobin regime and with the Consulate. The regime inherited a heavy burden of war, inflation and food shortages, yet it remained revolutionary in its Republicanism, its anticlericalism, and its desire to carry the fruits of the Revolution to the rest of Europe. At the same time it laid the foundations of financial stability and administrative efficiency on which Bonaparte was to build.

About this title

Book Description

On 9 thermidor Year 2, Robespierre fell; on 18 brumaire Year 8, a coup d'état brought Bonaparte to power. This book demonstrates that the interval between these two momentous events was also of crucial importance.

About the Author

Martyn Lyons is Professor of History and European Studies at the University of New South Wales, Sydney. His previous publications include A History of Reading and Writing in the Western World (2010) and Reading Culture and Writing Practices in Nineteenth-Century France (2008).

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1975
• ISBN 10: 0521099501
• ISBN 13: 9780521099509
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 272