000			01382n m a2200181 a 4500
001			061694
005			20231009193123.0
008			130308t19891989---AC---------000-u-eng-u
020			_a0-394-55948-7
082	0		_a944.04 SCH
100	1		_aSchama, Simon
245	1	0	_aCitizens _b: a chronicle of the French Revolution _c/ Simon Schama
260			_aNew York _b: Alfred A. Knopf _c, c1989.
300			_a948p. _b: il. retrs. _c; 24 cm.
520			_aThis well-written, thoroughly documented book should be on every high-school library shelf. It explains the self-destructive, bloody orgy that occurred in France but not in England or Prussia, countries in similar states of poverty and with similarly deprived, disenfranchised populaces. Schama theorizes that the cause of France's revolution lies in the self-deception of the ruling intelligentsia, who believed that they could make a Utopian France by allowing controlled violence, murder, and the destruction of property in the name of liberty, and all to exist simultaneously with good government. Schama presents Talleyrand, Lafayette, and others with more understanding than they are given in most histories, setting them amidst a web of violence of their own making. This book speaks to today's world, as nations strive to move from despotism to democracy.
650			_aFrance _x-History _y-Revolution, 1789-1799
942			_cMO
999			_c260888 _d260888