The Glory and the Sorrow

A Parisian and His World in the Age of the French Revolution

The Glory and the Sorrow
Timothy Tackett
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Hardback
h217 x 147mm - 232pg
13 Jan 2022 US
9780197557389
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An intimate history of an ordinary Parisian citizen and his neighbors that reflects on the origins and radicalization of the French Revolution. What was it like to live through one of the most transformational periods in world history? In The Glory and the Sorrow, eminent historian Timothy Tackett answers this question through a masterful recreation of the world of Adrien Colson, a minor lawyer who lived in Paris atthe end of the Old Regime and during the first eight years of the French Revolution. Based on over a thousand letters written by Colson to his closest friend, this book vividly narrates everyday life for an"ordinary citizen" during extraordinary times, as well as the life of a neighborhood on a small street in central Paris. It explores the real, day-to-day experience of a revolution: not only the thrill, the joy, and the enthusiasm, but also the uncertainty, the confusion, the anxiety, and the disappointments. While Colson reported on major events such as the storming of the Bastille and the King' s flight to Varennes, his correspondence underscores the extent to which the great majority ofParisians--and no doubt of the French population more generally--in no way anticipated the Revolution; the incessant circulation and power of rumors of impending disasters in Paris, not just in the summerof 1789 but continually from the autumn of 1789 throughout the Revolutionary decade; and how this affected popular psychology and behavior. In doing so, this account demonstrates how a Parisian and his neighbors were radicalized over the course of the Revolution. An evocative account of Colson' s time and place, The Glory and the Sorrow is a compelling microhistory of Revolutionary France.
"Drawing on an extraordinarily riche cache of letters, this biography of an ordinary eighteenth-century Parisian gives a marvelously vivid sense of what it was like to live through the last years of France' s Old Regime and to participate, at ground level, in the French Revolution. Timothy Tackett has drawn on his unparalleled expertise in the period to produce a biography that is also an illuminationDLand one that college students in particular willappreciate. " -- David A. Bell, author of Men on Horseback: The Power of Charisma in the Age of Revolution"This rich and evocative microhistory brings the late Old Regime and French Revolution alive through the experiences of one small-time Parisian lawyer. Adrien-Joseph Colson turns out to be a likeable and very human figure. As Timothy Tackett explores his reflections and quandaries, The Glory and the Sorrow makes for compelling reading. Once again, Tackett analyzes revolutionary dynamics with insight and vision. " -- Suzanne Desan, author of TheFamily on Trial in Revolutionary France"Adrien Colson' s letters reveal how utterly unexpected the French Revolution was for all who lived through it and how everyday citizens of Paris managed to ride the successive waves of optimism, excitement, uncertainty, and fear. Beautifully contextualized by one of the leading historians of the French Revolution, this book makes you feel like a witness to history. Unless you know how to travel through time, you can' t get much closer to the events of the FrenchRevolution than this. " -- Paul Friedland, Cornell University"There is no better way to experience the hopes, anxieties, and terrors churned out by the French Revolution than this very personal account of an ordinary man in Paris and no better guide to making sense of that experience than Tim Tackett. He has that rare talent for finding archival gems and then gracefully revealing their significance. The reader can' t help but feel what Adrien Colson feels as he encounters the excitement, mysteries, and disappointments ofrevolutionary Paris. " -- Lynn Hunt, author of History: Why It Matters
Timothy Tackett is Professor of History Emeritus at the University of California, Irvine. He is the author of many books, including The Coming of the Terror in the French Revolution; When the King Took Flight; Becoming a Revolutionary: The Deputies of the French National Assembly and the Origins of a Revolutionary Culture; and Religion, Revolution, and Regional Culture in Eighteenth-Century France.
Status: Active
ISBN-13: 9780197557389
Published: 13 Jan 2022
Published In: United States
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Format: Hardback
Height: 217mm
Width: 147mm
Spine: 21mm
Weight: 370g
Pages: 232

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