Hibbert's The French Revolution is an account of the events aimed clearly at the general reader. Easy to read and concise, this book focuses on the events and personalities that forced through revolutionary change, although maybe at the expense of a fuller exploration of the ideologies behind those changes.

Backed up by quotes from contemporary accounts, the Revolution unfolds over 300 odd pages in all it's bloody glory. Hibbert does not shy from the bare facts of the number of people, both aristocrat and peasant, who were guillotined in the name of Liberty. The Revolutionaries were in uncharted waters as soon as they killed the king and the vying for position amongst the various faction became ever more bloody and bitter post 1789.

All the big names are here, Danton, Marat, Robespierre and of course Bonaparte. All the major events are covered in detail, both their build up and outcome. The lurches from Left to Right and back again. The Terror, the final submission to dictatorship as Bonaparte stamps his authority on the remnants of the Revolutionary Councils. It's all here.

There are weightier tomes that delve deeper into the ideologies behind the Revolution, but if you want a straightforward, easy to read account of those momentous years, you can do no worse than this book. ( )

Terrific popular history of everyday life during the French Revolution. The chapter on the Septembrists is truly frightening over 200 years later. Such cruel barbarous acts I cannot even imagine. The French revolutions behaved like animals and I cannot forgive them to this day. It is true that not all behaved that way but too many were cruel and violent. Hibbert is a great non scholarly historian and I strongly recommend this book. ( )

ניסיון מעניין לספר את סיפורה של המהפיכה דרך האנשים ששיחוק בה חלק ודרך מילותיהם ממש. הרבה דם, הרבה רכילות פיקנטית אבל בסופו של דבר יותר מדי שמות ופחות מדי סדר ורעיונות ( )

1694 The Days of the French Revolution, by Christopher Hibbert (read 14 Feb 1982) This book is footnoteless and makes no pretense to scholarliness. But it was published in 1980 and is written in the usual lively Hibbert style. The time of the French Revolution was an unbelievable time--and the events never cease to amaze. But this book attempts to cover too much, and so I was not as intrigued by it as I have been by some other books I have read on this subject--see, e.g., Epitaph for Kings, which I read in July 1975. Maybe I should read a good book on the rise of Napoleon. The last section of this book deals with that rather summarily. [On 13 Oct 2008 I read Europe and the French Imperium 1799-1814, by Geoffrey Bruun, and I thought it did a good job telling of the rise of Napoleon.] ( )

Hibbert states that his intention in writing this book was partly to provide a readable introduction to the works of other historians, and by that standard he succeeded. There isn't much depth or analysis here, but since I knew almost nothing about the Revolution before I read this book, I've found it very useful as a basic summary of the important events and persons and a skeleton on which to place further knowledge.