The Political History of France, 1789-1910

About this film

LibriVox recording of The Political History of France, 1789-1910 by Muriel O. Davis. Read in English by Pamela Nagami This little book opens on the eve of the French Revolution. The government is crippled by financial mismanagement, ruled by a King who, in the author's words, is "devoid of both ability and energy," and resented by a tax-oppressed peasantry and a rising middle class. The Revolution escapes the control of its instigators and France is plunged into the Terror and international war. Enter Napoleon, a man with "an enormous capacity for work," who can "get to the root of a matter and master technicalities with great swiftness," but whose "vulgar desire for recognition...and his inability to feel the sufferings of others" ultimately leads to his country's downfall. Davis then presents the careers of Napoleon's successors, including his nephew, Louis Napoleon who, scarcely better than an inept imposter, plunges France in 1870 into the disastrous Franco-Prussian War. In the wake of French defeat, the anti-semitic mass hysteria of the Dreyfus case polarizes French society for over a decade. The book, which was published in 1916, ends in 1910 with France, menaced by Germany,…

Directors & creators

Muriel O. Davis

Subjects

librivox; audiobooks;french revolution; battle of waterloo; the terror; napoleon bonaparte; napoleon iii; louis philippe; louis xvi; battle of austeritz; paris commune; third republic

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