This book examines the European world before 1789, recounts the history of the revolution in France itself and then explores its monumental impact on European society. The book focusses on the causes of this impact and discusses the levels of thinking, communication, social, political, and economic conditions in France at the time, which combined to make the revolution possible and which were similar to those developments elsewhere in Europe.

The French Revolution catapulted Europe into a new period of political upheaval, social change, and into the modern era. This book provides a concise introduction to the impact of the French Revolution on Britain and to the ways in which this impact has been assessed by historians. The book is organised thematically. It begins with a survey of the ideological debate sparked off by the Revolution discussing, in particular, the work of people such as Burke, Paine, Spence and Wollstonecraft. From here it presents an exploration of the Revolution s impact on * Parliamentary polities * The growth of radicalism and loyalism * The way in which French ideas influenced Irish aspirations to generate rebellion The third main section of the book focuses on the causes and course of Britain s war with Revolutionary France, and on the effects of the war on the home front, most notably the recurrent, serious food shortages.