The French Revolution: A History. Volume 1: The Bastille (Version 2): Free Audiobook and Listening Guide

The French Revolution: A History. Volume 1: The Bastille (Version 2), credited to Thomas Carlyle, is available as a LibriVox volunteer audiobook. This guide identifies the recording, its source summary and its audio tracks.

About the work

The LibriVox catalogue summary, preserved with the recording, reads:

LibriVox recording of The French Revolution: A History. Volume 1: The Bastille (Version 2) by Thomas Carlyle. Read in English by Peter Dann Subtitled "The Bastille", Volume 1 of Thomas Carlyle's three volume "The French Revolution: A History" was first published in 1837, and covers the events of the French Revolution up to the forced move of Louis XVI from Versailles to Paris. While a modern listener not already familiar with the events described here may need some time to get their bearings amidst a sea of unfamiliar names and allusions, Carlyle's idiosyncratic yet justly famous present-tense, quasi-firsthand narrative quickly builds into a gripping, highly dramatic story which contemporary scholars still regard as being essentially accurate. It may help the reader to understand that the term 'Oeuil de Boeuf' signifies the palace of the French King, and that references to 'Jean Jacques' are to Jean-Jacques Rousseau, whose 1755 book "The Social Contract" argued that 'we are obliged to obey only legitimate powers'. - Summary by Peter Dann

Recording facts

• Recording title: The French Revolution: A History. Volume 1: The Bastille (Version 2)
• Author credits: Thomas Carlyle
• Language: English
• Original MP3 tracks: 50
• Listed recording duration: 11:09:15

Catalogue topics

• french revolution

Opening tracks: first 24 of 50

1. 01 - Book 1, Chapter 1: Louis the Well-Beloved — 10:02
2. 02 - Book 1, Chapter 2: Realised Ideals — 24:30
3. 03 - Book 1, Chapter 3: Viaticum — 7:36
4. 04 - Book 1, Chapter 4: Louis the Unforgotten — 17:15
5. 05 - Book 2, Chapter 1: Astraea Redux — 15:52
6. 06 - Book 2, Chapter 2: Petition in Hieroglyphs — 6:24
7. 07 - Book 2, Chapter 3: Questionable — 9:54
8. 08 - Book 2, Chapter 4: Maurepas — 9:44
9. 09 - Book 2, Chapter 5: Astraea Redux without Cash — 9:33
10. 10 - Book 2, Chapter 6: Windbags — 11:10
11. 11 - Book 2, Chapter 7: Contrat Social — 7:21
12. 12 - Book 2, Chapter 8: Printed Paper — 13:11
13. 13 - Book 3, Chapter 1: Dishonoured Bills — 12:27
14. 14 - Book 3, Chapter 2: Controller Calonne — 8:21
15. 15 - Book 3, Chapter 3: The Notables — 23:26
16. 16 - Book 3, Chapter 4: Loménie’s Edicts — 11:49
17. 17 - Book 3, Chapter 5: Loménie’s Thunderbolts — 11:27
18. 18 - Book 3, Chapter 6: Loménie’s Plots — 11:50
19. 19 - Book 3, Chapter 7: Internecine — 14:03
20. 20 - Book 3, Chapter 8: Loménie’s Death-throes — 25:49
21. 21 - Book 3, Chapter 9: Burial with Bonfire — 8:38
22. 22 - Book 4, Chapter 1: The Notables Again — 13:30
23. 23 - Book 4, Chapter 2: The Election — 15:23
24. 24 - Book 4, Chapter 3: Grown Electric — 9:09

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