A cultural history of the French Revolution /

Kennedy (George Washington University) has produced a fascinating panorama of late 18th century French culture. He views first its traditional matrix, next the immediate background of the Enlightenment, then zooms in upon the "revolutionary culture" proper, and closes with an evaluation of the lasting impact of the cultural changes upon the following century or two. The leitmotiv of this monumental work is the desacralization of the sacred and the consecration of the profane, culminating in the apotheosis of the nation. A tremendous amount of scholarly research, combined with a clear and relatively direct and simple style and reinforced by 95 contemporary illustrations, warps time and beams the reader back to Mirabeau, Robespierre, and le peuple. The production work is nearly perfect. The index, however, upon close examination reveals very many omissions, possibly because of budgetary or spatial constraints. All in all, a beautiful book, highly recommended for all community college, undergraduate, and public libraries. -J. S. Gassner, College of Santa Fe

Two new historical studies of the French Revolution supplement two recent titles, Schama's Citizens [BKL Mr 1 89] and Doyle's Oxford History of the French Revolution [BKL Je 1 89]. Bernier aims for a popular readership with a very French view of the Revolution. France begins as a paragon of civilized nations, a country that has set the style in fashion, literature, art, and, yes, even politics. For, from Bernier's perspective, once France had deposed its monarchy and substituted a democratic form of government, what could the other nations of Europe do but follow France's lead? Of course, Bernier's account is a bit more complex than that--and historians may quibble that the actual events and results are even more complex than Bernier would allow--but in its comfortable, almost cozy way, it is much like old wine in a fresh bottle: with the vintage preserved, it may still provide pleasurable drinking. Bernier is also the author of Louis the Beloved: The Life of Louis XV [BKL S 15 84]. Notes, bibliography. Kennedy explores the cultural backdrop of the French Revolution in his investigation of the intellectual movements that laid the framework for social upheaval. This transformation, however, was not complete, as the author demonstrates an element of continuity that occurred in the country's political and social systems. The immediate impact of the Revolution continued to be influential, and on such areas as religion, music, art, literature, and theater, Kennedy can trace the evolutions that were spurred by rapidly changing conditions. The text is to be accompanied by many pertinent illustrations. Appendixes, notes; index. --John Brosnahan

In this scholarly, ambitious synthesis, Kennedy paints the French Revolution as ``a profound cultural event.'' Readily admitting that this violent political upheaval did not engender many enduring artistic creations, he sees the Revolution as a force of demolition that negated the culture of the old order as its ``religion of man'' paved the way for secular individualism. Popular French melodramas and ``black novels'' prefigured, then mirrored, the wickedness of the Reign of Terror. In painting, an ``aesthetics of ruin'' announced the ancien regime's collapse, and even Jacques-Louis David's classicism brimmed over with angry defiance. A professor of history at George Washington University, Kennedy shows how the Revolution created a cultural vacuum that radical leaders tried to fill with a subsidized press, republican music, secular festivals, didactic theater, a civic religion. Dozens of period engravings and paintings enliven the proceedings. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Each of these books represents a revisionist approach to the French Revolution. Readers familiar with Doyle's works will not be surprised by this new volume, whose early chapters repeat much from his Origins of the French Revolution (2d ed., 1988). In contrast to Marxist historians, Doyle argues that the Revolution did not witness the victory of a capitalist bourgeoisie over a feudal aristocracy. Rather, the Revolution resulted because a financial-political crisis occurred at a time of harvest failure and of declining esteem for the monarchy among the educated elite. According to Doyle, the Revolution brought several beneficial liberal reforms, but at a terrible social and economic cost. Doyle's scholarship and logic are impressive. Nevertheless, two other revisionist histories of the Revolution are preferred. Simon Schama's Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution ( LJ 4/1/89) has greater stylistic flair, and J.F. Bosher's The French Revolution (LJ 10/15/88) more clearly explains how the new interpretation differs from the old. Kennedy's book is revisionism of a different sort. It resembles Mona Ozouf's Festivals and the French Revolution (LJ 5/15/88). Instead of politics and socioeconomic issues, Kennedy concentrates on such topics as mentalities, popular and elite culture, religion, education, art. He gives a lengthy examination of these topics through the century preceding the Revolution, then examines the changes in 1789-99. In general he finds that the Revolution brought disruption and destruction, though many Old Regime cultural structures and attitudes survived. Moreover, the Revolution made some positive contributions, e.g., the establishment of central schools. Kennedy also admires the more individualistic society that slowly emerged. His clear exposition and numerous illustrations should make this appealing to general readers; the impressive scholarship and sound grasp of issueswill impress specialists.-- Thomas J. Schaeper, St. Bonaventure Univ., N.Y. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Here, Kenndy (History/George Washington Univ.) has come up with a unique perspective on the French Revolution, focusing on its cultural ramifications. While other authors in this bicentennial year (Schama, Citizens, p. 195; etc.) have concentrated on dramatic clashes between the mob and the monarchy, Kennedy is more concerned with the more glacial pace of cultural change in all its guises--painting, music, fiction, science, education, religion, and architecture (but not poetry: ""The Eighteenth century, a prosaic age, was bereft of good poetry""). Above all, Kennedy documents the many symbolic changes that dramatized the destruction of the monarchy and the rise of the citizen: for example, the removal of the heads from statues of the kings of Juda at the portal of Saint Anne, Notre Dame, in 1793, or the scene in Marechal's play Judgement dernier des rois in which a volcanic eruption on stage blows up the sovereigns of Europe. Kennedy chronicles a dual attack on church and monarchy: thus, buildings whose names carried monarchical allusions were renamed (the Academie royale de musique, for example, became today's L'Opera), while school curricula were secularized and libraries purged of ""fanaticism."" The author argues that the Revolution stood for ""a religion of man""--and had two phases: ""the moments of destruction correspond to the agitational phase. . .those of reorganization to the integrative phase. . ."" Very little escapes Kennedy's microscope as he glides effortlessly through the architecture of Paris (which changed little during the Revolution) to the corporations, guilds, Masonic lodges, and literary salons to the view from the countryside (where ""peasants who returned to their huts after military service slipped back naturally. . .into old routines""). Kennedy concludes that the culture that remained in the wake of the Revolution was ""immeasurably richer, more efficient, more variegated, if more confused. . ."" A sound history, supported also by many illustrations (unseen). Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.