The French Revolution and the people

Synopsis

Although the French Revolution started with the resistance of a minority to absolutist government, it soon spread to involve the whole nation and the men and women who made up by far the largest part of it were the peasantry. The French Revolution and the People is a portrait of the common people of France, and of their engagement in revolutionary struggle in town and country: from Paris to Lyon to the VendÉe and the other regions of France. Peasants and townsfolk formed the ranks of revolutionary patriot armies, and fought as counterrevolutionary guerrillas for church and king. Others fought only for the right to be left alone. The French Revolution and the People is a vivid story of conflict, violence, and death, but also a story of the people's eventual triumph for freedom and prosperity.