Great courses (Compact disc)

Course number 8220

A lecture series on the French Revolution. The 25 years between the onset of the French Revolution in 1789 and the Bourbon Restoration after Napoleon in 1814 is an astonishing period in world history. This era shook the foundations of the old world and marked a permanent shift for politics, religion, and society ; not just for France, but for all of Europe

Compact disc

Each volume of program contains 12 lectures; the length of each lecture is: approximately 30 min. The entire program consists of 48 lectures

Lecture notes and program information contained in course guidebook

Unabridged

Lecturer: Professor Suzanne M. Desan, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Volume 1. Disc 1.

Introduction and the old regime monarchy ; Privilege: old regime society --

Disc 2.

Enlightenment ; France, global commerce, and colonization --

Disc 3.

American revolution and the economic crisis ; Political awakening of 1789 --

Disc 4.

July 14th: storming the Bastille ; Peasant revolt and the abolition of feudalism --

Disc 5.

Declaration of the rights of man ; Paris commands its king --

Disc 6.

Political apprenticeship in democracy ; Religion and the early revolution

Volume 2. Disc 7.

Revolution and the colonies ; Women's rights in the early revolution --

Disc 8.

King's flight ; Foreign reactions: a divided Europe --

Disc 9.

Path to war with Europe ; Overthrowing the monarchy --

Disc 10.

King's trial ; Republic at war --

Disc 11.

Revolutionary culture and festivals ; Family and marriage --

Disc 12.

Slave revolt and the abolition of slavery ; Counterrevolution and the Vendée

Volume 3. Disc 13.

Pressure cooker of politics ; Revolution in crisis: summer 1793 --

Disc 14.

Terror is the order of the day ; Revolution devours her children --

Disc 15.

Overthrow of Robespierre ; Thermidorian reaction --

Disc 16.

Directory: an experimental republic ; Young Napoleon --

Disc 17.

Italian campaign and the sister republics ; Sister republics? France and America --

Disc 18.

Bonaparte in Egypt ; Bonaparte seizes power

Volume 4. Disc 19.

Building power: general and first consul ; Napoleon becomes Emperor --

Disc 20.

Napoleon's ambitions in the new world ; Taking on the great powers --

Disc 21.

Expanding the empire ; France during the empire --

Disc 22.

Living under the empire ; Russian campaign --

Disc 23.

Napoleon's fall and the Hundred Days ; Waterloo and beyond --

Disc 24.

Emerging political models ; Revolutionary legacies