This book discusses the economic and political conditions that led to the outbreak of the French Revolution. Informative sidebars, primary sources, and a fact-filled timeline that highlights key events before, during, and after the revolution are also provided.

Setting the scene: a timeline -- Introduction: Man may be free, if he resolves to be so -- Revolutionary origins[1] -- Political awakening of 1789 -- Bloody revolution -- Bloodshed spontaneous and calculated -- Revolution in crisis -- Revolutionary culture and society -- The end of the revolution, the rise of Napoleon -- Epilogue: coming to terms with the French Revolution.