Pre-numbered label used for registration.

My mother gave me this book yesterday. Her cousin bought this copy because he didn't think he would finish his Library copy before it was due. He ended up making it through, so he pass this copy on to my mother (he has since registered here as ezduzit). She tried to read it but gave up after about 50 pages, and gave it to me to read and/or pass on. This is a hefty book (900+ pages), but the subject matter should be interesting as long as the writing style isn't too dry.

I finished the second chapter today, which puts me well beyond what my mother managed to read. This book is written in a more academic style than I prefer, but I'm finding that if I read it a piece at a time, it isn't overly difficult to read. The material is extremely interesting, and I'm learning a lot about the underlying causes of the French Revolution. I'll post more as I progress through the book.

Had an interesting experience this weekend. We had some friends visiting from NYC, and I was playing tour guide. We were meandering through the National Gallery of Art, when we noticed a special exhibition of French Genre paintings. We found ourselves especially admiring the paintings of Jean-Baptiste Greuze. Later that day, I was reading this book, and was amazed to find an extensive discussion of Greuze's paintings (Chapter 4, section ii). Several of the illustrations show the very paintings we had been looking at earlier in the afternoon! How weird is that? Now I'll need to go back down to the museum and take another look at the paintings.

I finally finished this book! This was pretty well written, though it did get to be a pretty heavy read at times. I now have a much better understanding of the sequence of events during the French Revolution, and a better appreciation for the underlying complexities that let up to it. That helps fill in another hole in my understanding of European History.

On its way to MaryZee in Maryland. Enjoy!

Just received this in the mail today. I realized this was a weighty tome, but not as much as it is!

I'll read this when I can set aside enough time to work on it - it may live with me for a while, but I will read it and pass it on.
I was interested in this book when it first came out - I worked for the publisher (Random House) at the time, but never seemed to pick up a copy.

Thanks again!

I've been working on this book since early February, and am finally almost finished (180 pp. left).

This has been quite a project to read. The writing is rather dense (to me); someone more familiar with the history of the French Revolution might find it easier reading. I think if you wanted a good overall reference to the French Revolution, this would be it. Schama does a thorough job of covering the Revolution, from early factors (I had no idea that the American Revolution was part of the reason that France was so far in debt that it helped destroy them politically) thru the repeated restructuring of the government, and on thru the death of the monarchy. It's been many years since I studied the French Revolution; I think I now understand how complicated this process of overthrowing and creating a new government could be. It also gives me a real appreciation for the leadership abilities of the early Americans, how they were able to invent our own form of government without destroying everything we had (guess being in a remote location had an impact as well).

I'm eager to finish up the rest of the book, since I'm sending this off to someone who has it on her wish list.

Thanks for sharing, ResQgeek!

Off to Mlbish today, who has this on her wishlist!

Oh! Thank you so much! I am really looking forward to this book. I've been interested in it for a while, and it looks great and is gloriously chunky to boot. As always, if you see anything on my shelf that interests you, MaryZee, please let me know. I'll keep this one crossing after I've worked my way through it.