Burton, Richard D. E. Blood in the City: Violence and Revelation in Paris, 1789-1945. Ithica and London: Cornell University Press, 2001. This intense, very intriguing book deals with three distinct periods in Parisian history: the Terror, 1793-1794; the repression of the Paris Commune in 1871; and the aftermath of the Liberation in 1944. What is particularly horrifying in these periods were the extraordinary number of French citizens, mostly Parisians, who were slaughtered, in almost orgiastically violent fashion, by fellow Frenchmen. That a city, old, established, functioning, suddenly, systematically begins destroying its own in unprecedented numbers is both unthinkable, and deserving of study.
Castelot, Andre. (Denise Folliot, tran.) The Turbulent City: Paris 1783-1871. New York: Harper & Row, 1962. This is history the way the Scarlet Pimpernal would write it–personal, swashbuckling, and vigorous–as suspenseful as a thriller. Central characters are drawn in bold and vivid strokes. I chiefly used the chapters describing the Revolution. No footnotes or bibliography, but a rollicking good story to fire your imagination.
Jones, Colin. The Great Nation: Framce from Louise XV to Napoleon 1715-1799. New York: Columbia University Press, 2002. This is a political history of 18th Century France. It has been excellently researched and documented, and is also accessible and well-integrated. The emphasis is Paris–the players, the economy, the problems. Again, I was chiefly researching the Terror, and found here invaluable, and terrifying, information
