Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution

From the author of "The Embarrassment of Riches", this is a history of the French Revolution. At the heart of this account is the story of the transformation of "subjects" to "citizens". The author aims to show a France infatuated with novelty and technology in the midst of dramatic economic change. The darkening of the original euphoric vision of liberty into a scenario of hunger, anger, terror and death is the author's theme, as he draws on available material of social and cultural history. "Citizens" was winner of the 1990 NCR Book Award for Non-Fiction, which is considered to be the most lucrative literary prize given in this country.