This selection of original documents examines the constitutional and
political problems of France in the decade 1785-1795 through the
writings of contemporaries. Originally published nearly 20 years ago
under the title 'The French Revolution: The Fall of the Ancien Regime to
the Thermidorian Reaction 1785-1795', it is now substantially revised
and greatly expanded. Focusing on the period from the last years of the
'ancien regime' to the fall of Robespierre and the Thermidorian
Reaction, the book traces the unsuccessful search for a political
consensus and the struggle to defend the Rule of Law, and examines the
two central characters in the Revolution, Louis XVI and Robespierre. New
material includes a fresh section focusing on the doubts and threats
that assailed the 'ancien regime' in its final years and one examining
the bloody climax of the Revolution itself, Robespierre's 'Red Summer'.
Other sections have been thoroughly revised and editorial commentary
expanded and updated where necessary.