
Citizens
A Chronicle of the French Revolution
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Narrated by:
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Frederick Davidson
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By:
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Simon Schama
From one of the truly preeminent historians of our time, this is a landmark book chronicling the French Revolution. Simon Schama deftly refutes the contemporary notion that the French Revolution represented an uprising of the oppressed poor against a decadent aristocracy and corrupt court. He argues instead that the revolution was born of a rift among the elite over the speed of progress toward modernity and science, social and economic change. Schama’s approach, weaving in and out of private and public lives in the fashion of a novel, brings us closer than we have ever been to the harrowing and seductive French Revolution.
Simon Schama is a professor of art history and history at Columbia University and is the author of numerous award-winning books; his history Rough Crossings won the National Book Critics Circle Award for nonfiction. He has written and presented more than thirty documentaries for the BBC, PBS, and the History Channel.
©1989 Simon Schama (P)1990 Blackstone Audio, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...




















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These mannerisms -- the voice dripping with misplaced sarcasm, and the falsetto -- badly mar this book. I know at least one person who had to return it because of that. Couldn't stand to listen to it.
And incidentally, yes, the recording still skips. I am now right in the middle of the book, and the skipping occurred mostly in the first one third. It hasn't skipped for the last three hours or so. But when it does, it's extremely disruptive and crucial information is lost.
wonderful book, problem performance
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a bit arch
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Davidson’s arch and detached style suits the material perfectly. It wouldn’t do to have the narrator break into fits of derisory laughter at the pomposity of so many self-serving “idealists”, nor to succumb to sobs as the unimaginable cruelties unfold.
Worth every minute
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Well done
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It's also the place to go for stomach-churning descriptions of mob violence. I'm writing this in the wake of recent terrorist attacks in Paris; and I hesitate to say this because of the timing, but Paris is no stranger to the savage violence of the mob on people perceived as enemies. Once killed by a Paris mob, the victim's body was likely to be torn apart - literally - with parts paraded around the city on the ends of pikes. Heads were being removed as trophies by ordinary people for years before the guillotine made the process systematic.
The king was at Versailles; a mob stormed the palace, killed and beheaded his defenders, and forced him to move to his palace in the city, the Tuilleries, where they could keep an eye on him. Later that palace was stormed by a mob, who killed and beheaded his defenders, and forced him to take refuge elsewhere. Later still, this place of refuge was stormed again, with even worse butchery, and he was tried and condemned to the guillotine.
Schama doesn't focus exclusively on this aspect of the revolution. He gives full play to the political history of the various factions: the Montagnards, the Girondins, the Jacobins; and to the successive waves of political and sometimes physical extermination carried out by one faction against another. The Revolution was self-consciously symbolic and declamatory, and it made for magnificent "scenes" of political debate.
It's a long, fascinating account, whose only fault is that it ends rather abruptly after the death of Robespierre. There's a summing up of what happened to who, but less attention to what - if anything - it all meant. Frederick Davidson gives his usual sterling performance. (Davidson, as I've said many times, is an acquired taste: IF you've acquired the taste, the book is a great pleasure to listen to. He has an unerring instinct for character, given less free rein here than in his readings of fiction, but still in evidence.)
Savage
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Would you listen to Citizens again? Why?
The United States in the 1980s is probably sufficiently distant from France in the late 1700s to provide a balanced look at the important events of that time and place. This book provides a great overview and lots of context, and Schama never looks away from atrocities committed by either side. Citizens is also obviously a product of the late 1980s in its scepticism towards economic regulations.What did you like best about this story?
The best part of Citizens is the wealth of context it provides in explaining what made the revolution happen and how French society was affected.Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Frederick Davidson?
While Frederick Davidson's tendency to come across as smug and sarcastic is certainly a flaw, his complete inability to pronounce French names and terms is almost enough to be a dealbreaker. His awful pronunciation isn't even consistent. Marat's murderer's name was Charlotte Corday, but Davidson pronounces it Cordaille just as often as Corday. Now, her name is a familiar one, but the problem becomes real when the listener can't tell if Davidson is referring to a man alternately as Beaulieu and Boileau, or if they are indeed two different men.Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
Since reading (listening to) Hilary Mantel's A Place of Greater Safety, Danton's execution has never failed to get me.Great introduction, horrible narration
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detailed to a fault
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A Must Listen!!
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Fix the audio already!
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Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
I would recommend this book in a heartbeat! Other reviewers say they had audio problems with this book -- I didn't hear any problems at all. Audible must have fixed whatever this was. A great long listen!What does Frederick Davidson bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
A good command of French -- thank God! Many other audible product producers (Charles River Editors, are you reading this?) who discuss the French Revolution often mispronounce many of the French names. Not Davidson. He is a total articulate pro!If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?
A deep broad dive into the French Revolution!Any additional comments?
If you really want to get into the French Revolution, this is the book for you!!Great audiobook!! What's the problem?
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