Revolutionary Ideas
An Intellectual History of the French Revolution from The Rights of Man to Robespierre
Princeton University Press has published Revolutionary Ideas: An Intellectual History of the French Revolution from The Rights of Man to Robespierre (2014) by Jonathan Israel, Professor in the School of Historical Studies. Israel explores how the Revolution was set in motion by radical eighteenth-century doctrines, how these ideas divided revolutionary leaders into vehemently opposed ideological blocs, and how these clashes drove the turning points of the Revolution. The book tells how the fierce rivalry between various groups shaped the course of the Revolution, from the Declaration of Rights, through liberal monarchism and democratic republicanism, to the Terror and the Post-Thermidor reaction.
