The French Revolution

by Thomas Carlyle

Published 1 February 1980
Thomas Carlyle's history of the French Revolution, originally published in 1837, opens with the death of Louis XV in 1774 and ends in 1795 when Bonaparte quelled the insurrection of the Vendemiaire. It covers the reign of Louis XVI, a period that included the assembly of the States General, the fall of the Bastille, the Constituent and Legislative Assemblies, the flight of the king to Varennes, the Convention, the trial and execution of the king and queen, the reign of terror and the fall of Robespierre. The study established Carlyle's reputation and contains portraits of Mirabeau, Lafayette, Danton and Robespierre. This edition reproduces the two-volume text of 1857 and includes a new chronology of events of the Revolution and a full index, as well as informative notes.