Career
He is one of the leading revisionist historians of the French Revolution. He is also professor of history at Bristol University, a fellow of the British Academy and a trustee of The Society for the Study of French History.
(In early modern France almost all posts of public respons...)
In early modern France almost all posts of public responsibility could only be acquired by purchase or inheritance. By the eighteenth century there were 70,000 venal offices comprising the entire judiciary, most of the legal profession, officers in the army, and a wide range of other professions. William Doyle, one of the foremost historians of early modern Europe, traces the evolution and dissolution of a system which was one of the central institutions of French life for over three centuries.
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(First published in 1980, this book rapidly established it...)
First published in 1980, this book rapidly established itself as the indispensable guide for those seeking to learn what broughgt about the French Revolution--as well as those wanting to track the many debates had by historians on this issue. This new edition brings the subject up-to-date with an extensively rewritten survey of the historiography of the Revolution as it stands today, alongside a revised interpretation of this era that fully reflects the most current research. The book remains a vital starting point for anyone planning to seriously explore the greatest of all revolutions.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0198731744/?tag=2022091-20
(This survey of European history covers a period of one an...)
This survey of European history covers a period of one and a half centuries which witnessed the beginnings of the contemporary world. In his account of the economic, social, intellectual, and governmental structure and development of pre-revolutionary Europe, Doyle stresses throughout the importance of economic and social trends, and places emphasis on the analysis of the structure of society as well as the narration of events. He shows how the contradictions of the old order contributed to a crisis which affected several of the major states in the late eighteenth century, when the growth of governmental power led to a series of clashes between governments and governing classes. Out of these conflicts, particularly in France, arose a revolutionary crisis. The nature of this crisis, and the impact of the change it produced, are examined in detail in the final section of the book. For this second edition, Doyle has revised the text of the book, and comprehensively updated the Bibliography.
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(It is impossible to exaggerate the importance of Jansenis...)
It is impossible to exaggerate the importance of Jansenism as a religious phenomenon in European life, and yet during the seventeenth century its followers denied its very existence. Jansenism, and the theology of Cornelius Jansen, powerfully infused French political life from the mid seventeenth century to the Revolution 150 years later - it impacted on the Enlightenment, the development of French constitutional thinking, the modernisation of the Catholic church and the destruction of the Jesuits. William Doyle has written an invaluable book. It explains exactly why Jansenism was so important, it recreates the religious and intellectual world which fostered it and examines the critical issues, such as the all-pervasive role of the Jesuits in European Catholic life. Anyone armed with this concise, straightforward book will find themselves immeasurably better prepared to understand the mentality both of France and much of Enlightenment Europe before the cataclysm of 1789.
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(Beginning with a discussion of familiar images of the Fre...)
Beginning with a discussion of familiar images of the French Revolution, garnered from Dickens, Baroness Orczy, and Tolstoy, as well as the legends of let them eat cake, and tricolours, Doyle leads the reader to the realization that we are still living with developments and consequences of the French Revolution such as decimalization, and the whole ideology of human rights. Continuing with a brief survey of the old regime and how it collapsed, Doyle continues to ellucidate how the revolution happened: why did the revolutionaries quarrel with the king, the church and the rest of Europe, why this produced Terror, and finally how it accomplished rule by a general. The revolution destroyed the age-old cultural, institutional and social structures in France and beyond. This book looks at how the ancien regime became ancien as well as examining cases in which achievement failed to match ambition. Doyle explores the legacy of the revolution in the form of rationality in public affairs and responsible government, and finishes his examination of the revolution with a discussion of why it has been so controversial. About the Series: Combining authority with wit, accessibility, and style, Very Short Introductions offer an introduction to some of life's most interesting topics. Written by experts for the newcomer, they demonstrate the finest contemporary thinking about the central problems and issues in hundreds of key topics, from philosophy to Freud, quantum theory to Islam.
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(Since time immemorial Europe had been dominated by nobles...)
Since time immemorial Europe had been dominated by nobles and nobilities. In the eighteenth century their power seemed better entrenched than ever. But in 1790 the French revolutionaries made a determined attempt to abolish nobility entirely. "Aristocracy" became the term for everything they were against, and the nobility of France, so recently the most dazzling and sophisticated elite in the European world, found itself persecuted in ways that horrified counterparts in other countries. Aristocracy and its Enemies traces the roots of the attack on nobility at this time, looking at intellectual developments over the preceding centuries, in particular the impact of the American Revolution. It traces the steps by which French nobles were disempowered and persecuted, a period during which large numbers fled the country and many perished or were imprisoned. In the end abolition of the aristocracy proved impossible, and nobles recovered much of their property. Napoleon set out to reconcile the remnants of the old nobility to the consequences of revolution, and created a titled elite of his own. After his fall the restored Bourbons offered renewed recognition to all forms of nobility. But nineteenth century French nobles were a group transformed and traumatized by the revolutionary experience, and they never recovered their old hegemony and privileges. As William Doyle shows, if the revolutionaries failed in their attempt to abolish nobility, they nevertheless began the longer term process of aristocratic decline that has marked the last two centuries.
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(This second edition of the most authoritative and compreh...)
This second edition of the most authoritative and comprehensive history of the French Revolution draws on a wealth of new research in order to reassess the greatest of all revolutions. It includes a generous chronology of events and an extended bibliographical essay providing an examination of the historiography of the Revolution. Beginning with the accession of Louis XVI in 1774, leading historian William Doyle traces the history of France through revolution, terror, and counter-terror, to the triumph of Napoleon in 1802, along the way analyzing the impact of these events in France upon the rest of Europe. He explores how a movement which began with optimism and general enthusiasm soon became a tragedy, not only for the ruling orders, but for millions of ordinary people all over Europe who paid the price for the destruction of the old political order and the struggle to establish a new one. Highly readable and meticulously researched, The Oxford History of the French Revolution will provide new insight into one of the most important events in European history.
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(Massacres were nothing new to the late eighteenth-century...)
Massacres were nothing new to the late eighteenth-century world, but the prospect of a government systematically executing its opponents by the cartload for months on end presented Europe with a new and unimaginable horror. The Reign of Terror and the French Revolution as a whole transformed the meaning of political change and history itself. Written by a leading historian, this authoritative and comprehensive history draws on a wealth of new research in order to reassess the greatest of all revolutions. Beginning with the accession of Louis XVI in 1774, William Doyle traces the history of France through revolution, terror, and counter-terror, to the triumph of Napoleon in 1802, along the way analyzing the impact of these events in France upon the rest of Europe. He explores how a movement which began with optimism and general enthusiasm soon became a tragedy, not only for the ruling orders, but for millions of ordinary people all over Europe. They were the ones who paid the price for the destruction of the old political order and the struggle to establish a new one, based on liberty and revolution, in the face of widespread indifference and hostility. Highly readable and meticulously researched, The Oxford History of the French Revolution will provide new insights into one of the most important events in European history.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0192852213/?tag=2022091-20
(Describes how the French revolutionaries tried to abolish...)
Describes how the French revolutionaries tried to abolish the nobility, analysing the intellectual roots of hostility to nobles, the steps by which revolutionaries turned against aristocracy, the impact of persecution, emigration, confiscation, and Terror, and the long-term consequences of these developments for the nobility.
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He is one of the leading revisionist historians of the French Revolution. He is also professor of history at Bristol University, a fellow of the British Academy and a trustee of The Society for the Study of French History.
(Beginning with a discussion of familiar images of the Fre...)
(Describes how the French revolutionaries tried to abolish...)
(First published in 1980, this book rapidly established it...)
(Massacres were nothing new to the late eighteenth-century...)
(This second edition of the most authoritative and compreh...)
(It is impossible to exaggerate the importance of Jansenis...)
(This survey of European history covers a period of one an...)
(In early modern France almost all posts of public respons...)
(Since time immemorial Europe had been dominated by nobles...)
(Will be shipped from US. Brand new copy.)