I don’t know a huge amount about the French revolution, so this book was just the thing. If you’ve ever heard/seen of the Mark Steel Lectures, then you’ll know exactly what style to expect, and what slant he’s going to put on things. His thesis is that that revolution has been unfairly maligned by mainstream history and this is an attempt to redress the balance.
I enjoy Steel’s writing, his voice comes out clearly, his anecdotes and analogies fit well and his narrative is clear. If I had a criticism, it would be that he ended the book too quickly, spending much more time on the start of the revolution than its end. Other than that, it’s a great book.
