
Napoleon Comes to Power
Democracy and Dictatorship in Revolutionary France, 1795-1804
Malcolm Crook(Author)
University of Wales Press
Published on 19. March 1998
Book
Paperback/Softback
128 pages
978-0-7083-1401-2 (ISBN)
Description
This latest addition to the Past in Perspective Series traces the rise to power of Napoleon and also examines the events before and after the coup d'etat of 1799. Recent research has suggested that the Bonapartist dictatorship was by no means a foregone conclusion, the inevitable outcome of a corrupt and discredited revolutionary regime. There is now greater awareness of the difficulties faced by the Directory (as the constitutional system was called after 1795) in steering a middle course between Royalism and Jacobinism and also a greater recognition of its achievements. By the time that Napoleon crowned himself Emperor in 1804, the Revolution was effectively over. An ingenious balance had been struck between democracy and authority, between hierarchy and equality, in short between the old order and the new, a synthesis which disarmed radicals and attracted conservatives. This hybrid of revolution and tradition only lasted for a further decade in France, but it exerted a profound influence over nineteenth-century political culture. The Napoleonic episode thus requires careful attention at a deeper level than the personal and military heroics that usually predominate, as this study will demonstrate.
Reviews / Votes
" ... a clear and reliable approach to an episode in French Revolutionary and Napoleonic history not otherwise well served by works in English. Published in the Past Perspective series, it combines sure-footed textual analysis with a selection of illustrative documents." French HistoryMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Wales
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
Not illustrated
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 135 mm
ISBN-13
978-0-7083-1401-2 (9780708314012)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Malcolm Crook is a Reader in History at the University of Keele.