This volume collects together a wide selection of primary texts that explain the processes behind the enormous changes undergone by France and Europe between 1787 and 1815, from the origins of the Revolution to the counterrevolution and from Marie-Antoinette to Bonaparte.

The achievements, terror and drama of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic period restructured politics and society on a grand scale, making this the defining moment for modern European history. While bringing the impact of historical events to life, Philip Dwyer and Peter McPhee provide a clear outline of the period through the selection of key documents, lucid introductory passages and commentary. They illustrate the meaning of the Revolution for peasants, sans- culottes, women and slaves, as well as placing events within a wider European and global context.

Students will find this an invaluable source of information on the Revolution and its international significance.

Philip Dwyer is Professor of History and founding Director of the Centre for the Study of Violence at the University of Newcastle, Australia. His books include Napoleon: The Path to Power (2008); Citizen Emperor: Napoleon in Power (2013); and Napoleon: Passion, Death and Resurrection, 1815–1840 (2018). He is co-editor of The Cambridge History of the Napoleonic Wars (2022). He is currently writing a global history of human violence.

Peter McPhee is Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Melbourne, Australia. His books include Living the French Revolution 1789–1799 (2006); Robespierre: a Revolutionary Life (2012); and Liberty or Death. The French Revolution 1789–1799 (2016). He is currently working on a book on the history of the French landscape 1770–2020.