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The French Revolution has been seen as a world-altering event. The revolution demolished a long standing monarchy and showed that it was a natural form of government. The Revolution also showed that it was possible to change society, using reason, for the better and worse. The French Revolution inspired many to agitate for democracy and equality around the world. It also unleashed an extraordinary amount of violence and paved the way for Napoleon's takeover of France. Many historians (not all) have argued that the French Revolution can be seen as the start of the modern world.

===Top Ten===

This work is a collection of ten essays by leading authorities on the French Revolution. It discusses the various theories on the origins of French Revolution. The individual essays discuss various aspects the causes of the French Revolution. Many of the essays argue that the French Monarchy was become more repressive and intolerant as it entered a social and economic crisis. This provoked the French people to revolt and to establish a government that was based upon ideas of popular sovereignty.

This work discusses the role of religion in the French Revolution. Aston argues that changes in religion contributed to the fall of the French Monarchy. Jansenism, a group within French Catholicism, had encouraged many people to know longer see the monarch as appointed by God. Furthermore, because of the enlightenment increasingly members of the elite and the middle class no longer believed in the teachings of the Catholic Church. They increasingly refused to believe that the French King was appointed by God to rule the country. These religious changes meant that many people were more willing to challenge the monarch during a socio-economic and political crisis and this led to the French Revolution.

This work is a narrative and an analysis of the French Revolution. It is primarily concerned with the perspective of the main players in the French Revolution. The author portrays as France as a very vibrant society, that was advancing economically and intellectually. The royal government of Louis XVI was autocratic. Such a government was not suited for the vibrant and new society that was emerging in France. The elite and the middle class increasingly became frustrated with the monarchy. When there was a fiscal crisis in 1789, they decided to use this as a pretext to change the government and this led to the fall of Louis XVI.

This is a very recent book on the French Revolution from Yale University Press. The book is focused on trying to determine whether the French Revolution was a world changing event or simply a part of a longer period of violence around the globe. McPhee's book attempts to reinterpret the impact of the French Revolution.

This work is a classic on the French Revolution by a great French historian. It was written in 1848. The author adopts a sociological approach and analyses the forces in society that produced the revolution. De Tocqueville argues that France was a society that needed reform in order to help the country to deal with its range of problems. The French did not want a revolution but want to reform their system of government. However, the failure of reform, led to growing frustration and anger and this ultimately led to extremists starting a revolution, that ended the ‘Ancien Regime’ in France.

The traditional view that a tyrannical king was responsible for the Revolution is now seen as no longer valid. Historians have revised their views on the causes of the French Revolution. It was a result of a complex series of interrelated events. The causes of the French Revolution were social, cultural, economic and political.

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